The Strain returns tonight with the first Season 2 episode and fans will be excited to know that the premiere features a prologue directed by Guillermo del Toro. The main cast and creators were in San Diego today for a Comic-Con panel and I caught up with them for interviews that I'll be sharing with Daily Dead readers soon. Until then, check out our new photo gallery for The Strain Season 2, which includes character images, along with photos that tease tonight's episode.

"The Strain returns to FX this summer for its highly-anticipated second season on Sundays at 10 PM e/p, beginning July 12th. The award-winning thriller from Guillermo del Toro and Carlton Cuse, based off of the best-selling The Strain Trilogy by del Toro and Chuck Hogan, was the most-watched new cable drama of 2014.

As the second season unfolds, the transformation has begun. It can no longer be denied — New York City is rapidly falling to an evil epidemic, and no one is coming to its rescue. Its citizens must fight or die. Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) and his unlikely allies tried to take down the embodiment of this evil — the Master — and failed. Now Eph and Dr. Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) concentrate on creating a biological weapon to wipe out the creatures, while Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) searches for an ancient book he hopes will reveal the strigoi’s entire history...and possibly a way to kill them. Meanwhile, the Master is out for revenge, unleashing new and even more terrifying breeds of bloodthirsty creatures after our team. Our team must find a way to defeat him before the infection spreads too far and becomes irreparable … before they become monsters themselves.

The Strain hails from Showrunner/Executive Producer/Writer Carlton Cuse along with Co-Creators/Executive Producers/Writers Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Gary Ungar, J. Miles Dale, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle and Regina Corrado serve as Executive Producers. The Strain is produced by FX Productions."