‘Pretty Little Liars’ Just Got Deadly With A Murderous New Villain

Pretty Little Liars solved a five year long mystery when it concluded its season 6A with the revelation that CeCe Drake (Vanessa Ray) had been the mastermind known as A, but it seems Pretty Little Liars is graduating in more ways than one. As the girls move forward into adulthood, the will be faced with new mysteries and a new deadlier villain.

Pretty Little Liars Faces Life Or Death Choices

For five years, Pretty Little Liars took fans along on mysteries that sometimes seemed unsolvable and other times were just too obvious, but they always involved the girls in games and odd little hobbies. While clues that led to doll collections and prom dresses may have made things unnerving at times, Pretty Little Liars never really lost that playful appeal, but that may be about to change.

In fact, as the cast of Pretty Little Liars sat down with MTV News, they explained that the new villain that the girls will face, beginning in season 6B of Pretty Little Liars, will be nothing like CeCe Drake. In fact, there won’t be any twisted little games at all.

“There’s none of that stuff. It’s definitely not fun and games — he’s not trying to play with them,” says Ashley Benson, who plays Pretty Little Liars‘ Hanna Marin. “He threatens them.”

Lucy Hale adds that Pretty Little Liars will be smarter and edgier with much higher stakes, as the killer forces each of the girls to do his or her bidding through threats, as opposed to manipulating them with their secrets.

I. Marlene King Reveals What Motivates The New Big Bad On Pretty Little Liars

As was the case with previous seasons of Pretty Little Liars, a dead body will be the catalyst in stirring up new mysteries, as showrunner Marlene King revealed to Bustle.

“This Big Bad has an agenda, and it’s to find out why this person passes away — and to seek revenge on the person responsible,” Pretty Little Liars‘ Marlene King said. “And it will not stop until that person pays, and [the Big Bad] will kill people to get that answer.”

A new, more homicidal killer isn’t the only thing that will be different, when Pretty Little Liars picks back up with season 6B, says King. Fans can also expect for the story to progress faster. Pretty Little Liars has been known to drag out mysteries through several seasons, almost frustrating some fans of the series a little too much, but that won’t be the case moving forward with this new storyline.

While Pretty Little Liars moves forward, it seems anyone is fair play for this new villain and that a higher body count can definitely be expected moving forward, but does that mean fans should prepare themselves for some unexpected character deaths? Definitely, says the Pretty Little Liars showrunner, but the main characters may also find themselves framed for murder, as well.

“This season is deadly,” Sasha Pieterse, who plays Alison DiLaurentis, said. “Charlotte was much more about playing the game. That’s what kept her going. That’s what fed her damaged soul. But this is a whole new animal. This new villain has a whole new motive — and it’s really deadly. It’s like. ‘Do this, or I’ll kill you.’ Charlotte and her games look like child’s play in comparison.”

Either way, it seems that Pretty Little Liars is picking up the pace in more ways than one with a killer intent on forcing Hanna, Emily, Spencer, Alison, and Aria to do his or her bidding until the very end.

Pretty Little Liars returns on Tuesday, January 12, 2016 on ABC.

[Featured image courtesy of ABC/Pretty Little Liars]