"Empire" season two is finally back. Fans of the popular soap opera are gearing up for what promises to be the explosive return of the Lyons. Aside from the music, the cat fighting, the power plays and Cookie's antics, one other thing that fans are waiting for are the guest stars who are set to parade through Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie's (Taraji P. Henson) empire.

Two guest stars who will reportedly be playing big roles in the second season are Marisa Tomei and Chris Rock. Tomei is playing a corporate hotshot in league with Cookie and who allegedly has a thing for the ladies.

Rock will reportedly play a rival of Lucious in prison, and one who is supposedly a cannibal. The character's storyline initially hit a roadblock as Fox was allegedly not too happy with the cannibalism plot and told the show's creator, Lee Daniels, to cut it.

Aside from Tomei and Rock, fans can also expect to see Ludacris as a cocky prison officer, Becky G as a popular Latina singer and "The Wire's" Andre Royo as a sleazy lawyer. Alicia Keys, Andre Leon Talley, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Pitbull and the Rev. Al Sharpton are also said to be guesting.

Destiny's Child's Kelly Rowland is also said to have an intriguing subplot.

One familiar face that "Empire" fans will be seeing more of next season is Serayah, who is back to reprise her role of Tiana, Hakeem's (Bryshere Y. Gray) love interest. Fans will recall that the couple broke up after Hakeem found out that she was having an affair with another woman. The singer has reportedly been promoted to series regular.  

Season two of "Empire" opens with the episode "The Devils are Here." The premiere will have a time jump of three months, with Lucious still in jail and his son, Jamal (Jussie Smollett), currently in charge of his father's company.

The next season also promises to touch on current and important topics like the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality. According to Smollett, it wouldn't be right for a hip-hop drama to deal with pop culture and not deal with the day's important issues.

"Empire" season two returns on Sept. 23 on Fox.