Every American Horror Story cast member returning for Apocalypse

The upcoming eighth season of American Horror Story was previously announced as a crossover between Murder House (seasons one) and Coven (season three), but Ryan Murphy waited until this year’s Comic-Con to release the theme: Apocalypse. FX dropped the info with a perfectly creepy promo image of a decrepit black hand reaching towards a blood red baby.

With Apocalypse set to drop on Sept. 12, there’s anticipation over which actors from the American Horror Story ensemble might turn out for the event. The major news, revealed at this year’s TCAs: Jessica Lange would be back. Lange captivated audiences with her performances in the first four seasons of the show, but has not returned since her role as Elsa Mars in Freak Show. She will not be reprising her role as coven leader Fiona Goode as some fans might have wished for, but instead revive Constance Langdon, the nosy neighbor and grandmother of the Antichrist, from Murder House.

Murphy had tweeted in July that Cody Fern would be joining the cast as Michael Langdon, Constance’s grandson, the child born of human and spirit who will potentially usher in the end of days.

Jessica Lange and Cody Fern aren’t the only actors joining the cast for Apocalypse, however. Murphy also tweeted a list of American Horror Story actresses who would be returning: Taissa Farmiga, Gabourey Sidibe, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy and Stevie Nicks. Since they all appeared in Coven together, the speculation is that they will reprise those roles.

Nicks appeared as fictional witch-version of herself towards the end of Coven, while Rabe’s beloved character Misty Day was tragically killed off in the final episode of that season, in which Conroy’s Myrtle also met her demise. Sidibe’s character Queenie appeared in the fifth season (Hotel), but was murdered in the same episode. Out of those actresses’ Coven characters, it is only Nicks and Farminga’s Zoe who are still alive.

Muprhy confirmed in a tweet that despite the fact that Conroy, Rabe and Sidibe’s characters are dead, they will reprise their Coven roles. Ghosts and resurrections are the norm in the AHS universe, so it’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

In addition to playing Coven’s Zoe Benson, it was confirmed that Farmiga will also be reprising her Murder House character, Violet Harmon. And yes, Peters will be taking on Tate Langdon, in addition to his unspecified Apocalypse character.

Here’s every actor confirmed to be returning to American Horror Story this season, a list we’ll keep up to date as Murphy spills new information.

Last updated on Aug. 31.

Actors returning with specified roles:

• Sarah Paulson as Billie Dean Howard (Murder House), Cordelia Goode (Coven), and Venable (Apocalypse)
• Kathy Bates as Ms. Meade (Apocalypse)
• Adina Porter as Dinah Stevens (Apocalypse)
• Leslie Grossman as Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt (Apocalypse)
• Billie Lourd as Mallory (Apocalypse)
• Emma Roberts as Madison Montgomery (Coven)
• Jessica Lange as Constance Langdon (Murder House)
• Connie Britton as Vivien Harmon (Murder House)
• Dylan McDermott as Ben Harmon (Murder House)
• Taissa Farmiga as Violet Harmon (Murder House) and Zoe Benson (Coven)
• Evan Peters as Tate Langdon (Murder House) and unspecified Apocalypse character
• Gabourey Sidibe as Queenie (Coven)
• Lily Rabe as Misty Day (Coven)
• Frances Conroy as Myrtle Snow (Coven)
• Stevie Nicks as herself (Coven)

Actors returning without specified roles:

• Cheyenne Jackson
• Billy Eichner

New to the cast:

• Joan Collins
• Jeffrey Bower-Chapman
• Billy Porter
• Lesley Fera
• Cody Fern as Michael Langdon (Murder House)

American Horror Story: Apocalypse will premiere on Sept. 12 at 10 pm ET on FX. Until then, let the fan theories roll.