Kirsten Dunst is the first star name lined up for the second season of Fargo, which featured Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton in its debut run.

The TV series is based on the fictional midwest universe created in the Coen Brothers film of the same name, and the action in season two will precede that of season one, featuring a completely new cast.

Joining Dunst is Jesse Plemons, best known for his role as Todd in Breaking Bad and a central part in Friday Night Lights. They will play husband and wife Ed and Peggy Blomqvist, a butcher and a beautician respectively – Peggy has big city aspirations, while Ed struggles to understand her dreams.

Cop-turned-coffee-shop-owner Lou Solverson, played by Keith Carradine in the first season, will return as a younger man – it’s possible that the disturbing earlier case he alludes to in season one will feature.

“He thought he left the war behind, but he came back and here it is, it’s domestic,” showrunner Noah Hawley told Entertainment Weekly. “We will meet Molly’s mother, who was not a character in season one … and we’ll learn what happened to her. There were a lot of clues left in the first season and we’ll do our best to hit those.”

Dunst recently completed work on Midnight Special, a forthcoming science fiction film from Mud director Jeff Nichols. It concerns a boy with supernatural gifts being protected by his father, played by Michael Shannon, from a religious cult and a government task force each chasing them down; Adam Driver, Joel Edgerton and Sam Shepard co-star.