New American Horror Story Season 13 Plot Details Reveal “Ultimate Evil” Franchise Crossover

Creator Ryan Murphy revealed the epic Avengers-like crossover at the center of the upcoming 13th season of American Horror Story.

The horror series debuted on FX back in 2011 with Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters, Taissa Farmiga, Denis O’Hare and Jessica Lange. Since it’s an anthology show, every season has a different storyline and setting while bringing back several actors time and again. Sometimes, Murphy revisits past arcs, and he will do so again next season.

It’s already been confirmed that the witches from Coven will return for American Horror Story season 13, but during a red carpet interview with ET, Murphy announced that the upcoming installment is not merely a Coven reunion.

Rather, “it’s all the seasons,” which means returning cast members like Lange, Peters, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts and Billie Lourd are playing multiple characters from the past.

American Horror Story season 13 will be “like the Avengers,” Murphy explained. “They all come together to defeat the ultimate evil.”

Several of these cast members have turned down offers to return to American Horror Story in the past, but when he pitched his season 13 idea to them, they felt they couldn’t turn it down this time, according to the creator/writer/director/executive producer.

Murphy also revealed that the new season will have 13 episodes “because it’s called 13.” He spent “many months and many years” writing the scripts with Brad Falchuk, Ned Martel and Charlie Carver, adding, “I wanted to do 13 in a special way.”

“Everybody thinks it’s a Coven season, and it’s not. It’s all the seasons. So Sarah Paulson is playing six or seven roles. Jessica Lange is playing all four of her iconic characters. Evan Peters is playing five characters. And, of course, Kathy Bates and Emma Roberts and Billie Lourd. It is like the Avengers. They all come together to defeat the ultimate evil, so it’s very fun. And as soon as I pitched it to them—many of them had said no over the years—and they were like, ‘Well, okay, we’ve got to come back for that.” But I pitched Jessica Lange. She was like, ‘Oh, s***, now I have to do it.’ Excuse me. It’s all of them in one season. And it’s 13 episodes because it’s called 13. I spent many, many months and many years writing it. I wanted to do 13 in a special way. So it’s cool.”

Since American Horror Story is a horror series and 13 is superstitiously considered an unlucky number, it makes sense that Murphy would want to bring the entire show full circle with returning actors reprising all of their past characters. It’s unclear how that will work on-screen, though, and Murphy has yet to divulge any details about the plot.

After playing Billie Dean Howard in Murder House, the very first season of American Horror Story, Paulson went on to play characters like Lana Winters, Cordelia Goode, Bette and Dot Tattler, Sally McKenna, Audrey Tindall, Ally Mayfair-Richards, Ms. Wilhemina Venable, Tuberculosis Karen and Mamie Eisenhower.

Peters’ American Horror Story characters over the years have included Tate Langdon, Kit Walker, Kyle Spencer, Jimmy Darling, James Patrick March, Rory Monahan, Kai Anderson, Malcolm Gallant, Jeff Pfister and Austin Sommers.

Murphy specifically stated that Paulson will play “six or seven roles,” while Evans is reprising five. Both actors have played more than that amount throughout the series, so fans will have to wait to see which past characters make return appearances, aside from the confirmed Coven witches.

Meanwhile, Lange has played Constance Langdon, Sister Jude Martin, Fiona Goode and Elsa Mars. In the interview, Murphy confirmed that the actress will reprise all four characters.

Cordelia and Fiona talking in American Horror Story Coven

With less than two months until American Horror Story returns to the air, a trailer will likely be released sometime in the coming weeks to shed light on what fans can expect from the Avengers-like storyline that Murphy has planned this fall.

Other cast members coming back are Angela Bassett, Leslie Grossman, Gabourey Sidibe, John Carroll Lynch, Matt Fraser and Frances Conroy. New stars include John Waters, Joey Pollari, Alex Consani, Paul Anthony Kelly, Madelaine Petsch, Mena Suvari, Berto Colón, Avantika, Grace Dumdaw, Cara Delevingne and Charlie Carver.

American Horror Story season 13 premieres Thursday, September 24 at 9 p.m. EDT on FX and Hulu.

Release Date: October 5, 2011
Directors: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Jennifer Lynch, Michael Uppendahl, Loni Peristere, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Ryan Murphy, David Semel, Howard Deutch, Michael Lehmann, Angela Bassett, Jeremy Podeswa, Max Winkler, Michael Rymer, Paris Barclay, Axelle Carolyn, Anthony Hemingway, Craig Zisk, Elodie Keene, Jennifer Arnold, Jessica Yu, John Scott, Laura Belsey, Liz Friedlander, Maggie Kiley
Writers: Halley Feiffer, Ned Martel, Crystal Liu, Charlie Carver, Kristen Reidel, Adam Penn, Douglas Petrie, Todd Kubrak, Reilly Smith, Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin, Joshua A. Green, Akela Cooper, Asha Michelle Wilson