American Horror Story Season 13 could be the biggest yet

Recent set photos from filming in New York City had led many fans to assume the season would revisit the witches of Coven. Murphy, promoting his latest series The Shards, insisted that is only part of the story.

Why American Horror Story season 13 is "like the Avengers"

"Everybody thinks it's a Coven season and it's not. It's all the seasons. Sarah Paulson is playing six or seven roles. Jessica Lange is playing all four of her iconic characters. Evan Peters is playing five characters. It is like the Avengers. They all come together to defeat the ultimate evil."

Ryan Murphy

Persuading his longtime stars back was no small feat. Lange exited the series after 2014's Freak Show, aside from reprising Constance Langdon in 2018's Apocalypse, and had long said she had no plans to return. Many others, Murphy said, had turned him down over the years before relenting once they heard the pitch. Fans hungry for their next binge can find one of the best thriller shows to stream in the meantime.

The season will run to 13 episodes, a nod to its title. "I spent many, many months and many years writing it. I wanted to do 13 in a special way," Murphy told Entertainment Tonight. For a franchise built on reinvention, uniting its most iconic faces under one roof may prove its boldest twist yet.