Sex And The City: Here's Everything We Know About HBO Max's Revival So Far

Dust off your Manolo Blahniks and freshen up your Cosmo, because this is not a drill: Yes, Sex and the City is coming back to TV.

HBO Max officially announced in January that the Emmy-winning comedy — which originally ran for six seasons from 1998 to 2004 on HBO — would return for an all-new 10-episode revival on the streamer, with (most of) the original cast returning for more bawdy New York City adventures. Production on the revival is underway in the Big Apple, with an eye on a December premiere. But this follow-up won't look exactly like the Sex and the City we remember... thanks in large part to one glaring absence in the cast.

We here at TVLine are so excited for the revival that we decided to gather up all the news tidbits that have been released so far and collect them in one place for your reading pleasure. Who will be back? Who won't be? And what does Sex and the City even look like when Carrie and company are now in their 50s?

Scroll down to find out everything we know so far about the Sex and the City revival, and then share your thoughts on/hopes for the new episodes in a comment below.

Parker, Nixon and Davis will all return to reprise their roles as gal pals Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes and Charlotte York Goldenblatt, respectively. (The three actresses will also serve as executive producers on the revival.) And they're not ignoring the fact that a couple of decades have passed since Sex and the City first debuted. The revival "will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30s to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50s," per the official description.

If you noticed something missing in the above description, you're not wrong: Kim Cattrall will not return as the friend group's fourth member, sex-positive pioneer Samantha Jones, despite playing her in all six seasons and both movies. (Cattrall has distanced herself from the series in recent years, even calling for the role of Samantha to be recast with a non-white actress.)

Parker confirmed in an Instagram comment that "Samantha isn't part of this story. But she will always be part of us. No matter where we are or what we do." We still don't know how the revival will explain Samantha's absence, but HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys has hinted that the core foursome simply grew apart: "Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life... They're trying to tell an honest story about being a woman in her 50s in New York. So it should all feel somewhat organic, and the friends that you have when you're 30, you may not have when you're 50."

When the revival was officially announced, it came with a fresh title as well: And Just Like That... The name comes from one of Carrie's go-to phrases while writing her sex column on the original series. (Maybe "I Couldn't Help But Wonder" was just too wordy?)

King, who guided the original series through its glory years and wrote the series finale along with both movies, is returning behind the scenes as well to serve as showrunner on the revival. And he'll be joined by a mix of SATC veterans and newcomers in the writers' room...

In February, HBO Max revealed the writers who'll work with King on the revival, and the list includes two alums from the original series: Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky. Joining them in the Sex and the City writers' room will be Rachna Fruchbom (Fresh Off the Boat), Keli Goff (Black Lightning) and blogger/author Samantha Irby. All three newbies are women of color, which helps address the original series' infamous lack of diversity. To that end...

The Grey's Anatomy alum is the first new name to join the cast as Che Diaz, a non-binary and queer stand-up comedian who hosts a podcast on which Carrie is regularly featured. "Che is a big presence with a big heart whose outrageous sense of humor and progressive, human overview of gender roles has made them and their podcast very popular," per HBO Max. (Hmmm... could this be the new Samantha?) Che is one of three new series regulars coming to the revival, all of them women of color.

"Everyone at And Just Like That... is beyond thrilled that a dynamically talented actor such as Sara Ramirez has joined the Sex and the City family," King said in a statement. "Sara is a one-of-a-kind talent, equally at home with comedy and drama — and we feel excited and inspired to create this new character for the show."

Carrie's main man will return for the revival: Noth will reprise his role as Mr. Big, who dated Carrie on and off throughout the series and married her in the first Sex and the City movie. But their marriage may go through a few new bumps in the road because...

Mr. Big's main competition for Carrie's heart, Corbett's goofy furniture maker Aidan Shaw debuted in Season 3 and popped up again in the second movie. Now Corbett will return as Aidan in "quite a few" episodes of the revival, the actor told the New York Post in April. (HBO Max has yet to confirm Corbett's casting.)

Four more guys we know well from the original series signed on in June to return for the revival. David Eigenberg will return as Miranda's husband Steve Brady, joined by Evan Handler as Charlotte's husband Harry Goldenblatt, Willie Garson as Carrie's gay BFF Stanford Blatch and Mario Cantone as Charlotte's flamboyant pal Anthony Marentino. (You may remember — or want to forget — that former frenemies Stanford and Anthony actually got married in Sex and the City 2.)

To mark the start of production in June, Parker posted a photo of herself reuniting with Nixon and Davis at the revival's first table read. "Together again," she captioned the photo, adding that the three of them just read through the first new episodes "alongside all the fellas and our newest cast members. Like an ice cream sundae."

In July, HBO Max released the first official photo from the revival, with Parker, Nixon and Davis once again walking the sidewalks of NYC in character as Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte. The photo confirms that Miranda will not be sporting her trademark red locks in the revival, opting for a more subtle blonde/gray look. But the daring fashion choices are still there... even if Samantha is not.

Carrie will have some new company, too: Nicole Ari Parker (Empire) will play Lisa Todd Wexley, a Park Avenue mother of three and documentarian; Sarita Choudhury (Homeland) will play Seema Patel, a single, self-made powerhouse Manhattan real estate broker; and Karen Pittman (The Morning Show) will play Dr. Nya Wallace, a brilliant, challenging Columbia Law professor. We couldn't help but wonder: Will the famous foursome now be a sixsome?

In a stark reminder that it's been quite a few years since Sex and the City last aired on TV, Niall Cunningham (Life in Pieces) and Cathy Ang (Ramy) will play the grown-up versions of Miranda and Steve's son Brady Hobbes and Charlotte and Harry's daughter Lily Goldenblatt, respectively. (We saw Miranda give birth to Brady in a 2002 episode, and Charlotte and Harry adopted Lily from China in the 2004 series finale, so both must be nearing full adulthood by now.) Cree Cicchino (Mr. Iglesias) will also join the cast as Brady's girlfriend (!) Luisa Torres.

Plus, Alexa Swinton (Billions, Emergence) will play Rose, the daughter of Charlotte and Harry. If you remember, Charlotte gave birth to Rose in the first Sex and the City movie — which would make Rose around 13 years old now, if our math is correct.

A number of buzzy rumors from the revival's set have hinted that Carrie and Big are splitsville in the new episodes, but they look pretty cozy together in this photo posted by Parker in August. (Sorry, Aidan.)