Last year, when The Tick season 2 was filming in New York City, I was able to visit the set and watched a very cool scene featuring a number of superheroes in a tense situation. Unfortunately, the scene is from the season 2 finale, so while I’d love to say exactly what was happening, it’s a huge spoiler. Just know the world of The Tick has been expanded with new locations and characters in the second season – including a number of new heroes that may or may not be what they seem….

Shortly after watching the scene get filmed, I managed to get some time with Scott Speiser, who plays Overkill on the show. During the interview, Speiser talked about Overkill's relationship with The Tick and if he’s still not allowed to kill people, his reaction to all the people that love Dangerboat and Arthur’s blossoming relationship, what fans can look forward to in the second season, how much he knew about the second season before filming began, how things change on set during production, if he learned anything more about Overkill’s backstory and history, what they learned making the first season that helped on the second season, and so much more.

Check out what he had to say below. The Tick also stars Peter Serafinowicz, Griffin Newman, Valorie Curry, Brendan Hines, and Yara Martinez.

Finally, if you’re going to Wondercon this weekend in Los Angeles, I’ll be moderating The Tick panel with the cast and creators on Saturday at 1pm in Room North 200A so please come by and say hi!

The Tick season 2 drops on Amazon Prime Video April 5th.

Collider: In season one, Overkill makes the agreement with The Tick to not kill people. Is that still the case in season two?

SCOTT SPEISER: That is how season two begins, yes. Season two begins not too long after season one, and Overkill is dealing with an enormous obstacle. He basically can’t do what his namesake tells him to do, so he has to find a way to accomplish everything that he’s trying to accomplish, without killing.

Is there a limit to where he’s allowed to go? Is that a topic of conversation? Like, am I allowed to do this? Can I maim him?

SPEISER: Right, so from my interpretation of season one, all that was said was, that I can’t kill. So, anything else is free game.

The real question of course is, how is Overkill managing with Dangerboat’s new relationship with Arthur?

SPEISER: Well, I think Overkill’s issue is that he wants to do it all on his own. Part of season two is - in season one he’s introduced in having to deal with all these people. This Moth Boy, this giant blue freak, the sister. He’s had to deal with all these people in his life. In season two, I feel like he’s realized that he’s accepted that he’s going to have to work with these other people to accomplish what his missions. I feel like Dangerboat’s “relationship” with Arthur is just another little nagging aspect in that whole encompassing way of living, where you have to interact with other people, and you have to do things as a team, you have to do things with partners. To me, the only issue Overkill has is that he just wants to make sure Dangerboat’s focused, and isn't too distracted by his feelings for Arthur. I don’t think it’s a huge obstacle for him. I think in general, just Overkill trying to navigate working with anyone at all, other than Dangerboat.

I think a lot of people might have been surprised by people’s reaction - positive reaction - to Dangerboat and Arthur’s relationship. Were you paying attention to that online? Were you reading reviews?

SPEISER: Yeah, a lot of things I would read or comments and reviews would say, “Oh, and by the way the Dangerboat, Arthur thing is great.” It’s so unexpected, at least for me, I’ll speak for myself. It was very unexpected, the first time I read it. I laughed out loud. It’s such an interesting dynamic that doesn’t take away from the whole story moving forward, but just adds this little relationship, dynamic, that you would never see. You would never see that in a superhero show, or movie. That’s part of The Tick. We can do things like that, and that’s what’s great about it. I love that people are enjoying that and that it got a great response.

The end of season one, Overkill clearly has a past with Lint and something’s going on with Dot. How is that further expanding in the second season?

SPEISER: Well, that’s a good question. I’m not sure how much I can answer about that to be honest with you. I would say that Overkill and Dot are put in a position where they’re forced to work together quite a bit. I think their relationship is constantly in question. I’m often asking that question, and I get to read the scripts.

Is it throughout the episode, will they won't they? Is it one of those kinds of things?

SPEISER: There’s a lot of that. That continues. There’s a lot of that in season one, and I think that continues definitely throughout season two.

With season two, how much did Ben tell you about the arc of the season going in and how much were you finding it out script by script?

SPEISER: I didn’t know much going in. I got to go into the writer’s room a couple of times, back in LA, on the hiatus while they were working on it. I would sit in the writer’s room and look at the board and try and make stuff up based on what I saw. I’d see Overkill’s name written next to another name and try to speculate. Ben likes to keep everything very tight, understandably. I didn’t really know much. I heard things about what happens at the end. That has kind of stayed the same, but the show changes a lot. Scripts are changing and coming in all the time. So, based on how things went, let’s say we’ve shot the first three episodes, Ben might have an idea based on that, and might change something. So, what I originally read for episode six, will most likely change quite a bit by the time we get to actually shooting it. So there’s a lot of, I sort of know the general idea of what happens at the end, but specifically for my character, I didn’t really know where his journey would take him, where his arc would be at the end until I read the last episode.

Overkill’s arc of the first season is very much stopping Jackie Earle Haley’s character. So, now that that’s done, where is Overkill’s mind in the beginning of season two? Is it, I’ve got to go after criminals now?

SPEISER: So, we’re going to learn about Overkill’s backstory and history. We’re going to learn a little bit more about that in season two. So, you learn about things in his past that are still driving him, in addition to The Terror. So, he’s trying to recite those problems, in addition to, not that Terror’s taking care of, he’s got these lose ends in his past that he’s trying to clean up, and not being able to kill he doesn’t know how to accomplish any of that to start out. He’s got to find a way, whether it’s using Dot’s help, or using other people that have come into his life, to accomplish these things and clear up these loose ends, without killing.

You must have a favorite about thing about making this show. Is there something that you see in the script and you’re like, “I cannot wait.”

SPEISER: There’s specific scenes that when I read them, I read them and say, “I cannot wait to shot this scene.” I don’t know if there’s a general type of scene that I like to enjoy seeing. I do enjoy, even though Dangerboat is small, somehow they make it on camera so it’s this very spacious, modern spaceship. It’s pretty tight in there. I really enjoy shooting on Dangerboat. Part of it I think is, that’s Overkill’s home, and there’s a lot that happens on Dangerboat, and I like when there are a lot of people on Dangerboat. So, when we’ve got a scene with Dot, and Arthur, and The Tick, when we’re all on Dangerboat, it’s really fun. It’s this tight space, it’s a small bedroom, and we’re all in there trying to solve problems. I do really enjoy, even though it’s a tight space and it’s actually very difficult to shoot because of the space limitations.

There are a lot of new characters this season. Ben teased one that’s like a Dr. Strange-esque - he mentioned a whole bunch of characters. Is there one that you are like, “Get out of here!”

SPEISER: Hilariously, there was one that then got completely cut. I can’t talk about it. There’s one sequence between one character and a character that did stay that I laughed my ass out loud. There’s one little stage direction that described the conversation they had and I thought this character was a simple superhero that was brought in, but it’s not there unfortunately, maybe it would come back in a later season. I’m trying to think. It’s funny, you’re asking me on a day where we’re shooting the finale of the season. We’re getting to see everyone standing there. You know, the way the show works, you’re not always seeing the other characters. You might not see him for a month. I might see The Tick on Dangerboat and not see him again for a few weeks, somewhere else. So, it’s really great to look out when we’re shooting this and see the different colors, and there are a couple that I am seeing for the very first time, today. There are definitely some characters I’ve read about and know about and have seen photos in the makeup chair, but I’m seeing for the very first time today. So, that’s cool. I also feel like this season, who knows how long he’s had these characters in his back pocket. I do feel like he’s got something and he’ll think about it, write about it, and laugh at it and think, that’s ridiculous, but then he doubles down on it and now it’s in the show. I love that. This is the show you can do that.

When you’re making the first season of a show, you’re often thinking about how the show can be put together in the time frame you have. You’re figuring a lot of the infrastructure. What do you think everyone learned making the first season that you’ve been able to put into making the second season?

SPEISER: What I would say is, for this particular show, I think what we learned the first season is that you have to be ready and brace yourself for the fact that things are going to change. They might change a week before, they might change a night before, they might change fifteen minutes before you’re shooting it. That can be challenging but it also makes it exciting, it keeps you on your toes. It’s stressful, but it’s fun. So, I think this season, I’ll read a script - we’re shooting episode one or two and I’ll get sent episode four, and I’ll read it, but I won’t get married to that script. I’ll know, okay that’s going to, by the time we’re shooting that, it could all change. Being able to mentally prep myself for that, and last season I would get stressed that it was changing; I’ve prepared for this and now we’re doing this. This season I’m able to let that go and roll with the punches, and know that this whole knew thing that was written right before I got there, fine.

Has Ben ever given you a whole new monologue right before you’ve walked on set?

SPEISER: Yes. (laughs). Four to six page scenes that are completely changed right when you show up. He knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t do it in a way that’s like - he’s very aware of what he’s asking us to do. He’s also great in that he’ll hand us that, and I remember a particular scene between Dot and I, and we got there and it was a four-page scene, and he changed a lot of it right beforehand, and Valerie and I both had thoughts on it. Things we liked and things we didn’t like. He was super, immediately, to changing it. There were certain things he changed back immediately and he agreed with us. He spent his lunch break reworking it. It was kind of a mixture of the scene we went to sleep with the night before, and they knew one he had just written and combined them. He’s very receptive and aware of the fact that, I just changed this entire scene and these are my actors, I want to make sure they’re comfortable with what’s happening. He’s very open to our suggestions and very sympathetic to when he does hand us a four-page monologue that didn’t exist the night before.

I know you wouldn’t have taken anything home from set because that would be stealing. Hypothetically, would you have borrowed anything from set and what do you have?

SPEISER: What do I have?

Did you hypothetically borrow -

SPEISER: Oh, I see what you’re saying.

Because you wouldn’t have taken anything.

SPEISER: No, no. I would have never. I’m a professional. The sad part is that I wish I was able to pretend that I hadn’t taken anything, but they’re pretty - they lock everything down. I would go to town on Dangerboat. I would just take one of those control panels that lights up and put that on the walls as a work of art or something like that.

This is the final week. You’ve got to borrow something.

SPEISER: I do have to borrow something. There’s a rack - this is weird - there’s a rack of what looks like real, and maybe they are real, guns on Dangerboat. I wouldn’t want them to - I don’t own a gun at home, I’m not interested in going out and firing guns - but when I walk on Dangerboat, and they’ve got it propped up with guns, it is the most badass looking thing i’ve ever seen. It’s these ten ridiculous black, I don’t even know what kind of guns they are. Don’t tell anyone I don’t know because I should know. I would love to have that sitting on the wall, especially because I know that they’re not really and they’re not going to fire and they’re not going to hurt anyone. They could be real, but I would make sure that no one would get hurt from them. I would totally put that in a man cave, hanging on the wall. I think that’s probably what I would do. I’m thinking in Overkill terms, but I’m sure there’s other parts of - here we are at AEGIS with a list of all those brochures and everything. That was all cool stuff.

The Tick season 2 drops on Amazon Prime Video April 5th.