The Russo brothers have not been shy about their desire for The Gray Man to be the first instalment of Hollywood’s next major action franchise – even suggesting that they hope the film can usher in a whole new cinematic universe.
The star-studded action thriller – which has now arrived on Netflix – is based on the first novel in Mark Greaney’s best-selling series of books, and tells the story of a CIA mercenary who finds himself on the run when his employers send a psychopathic killer after him.
It includes all sorts of big names, beautiful locations, and bombastic set pieces – and if you’ve just finished watching it you might find yourself wondering what the latest news is when it comes to sequels.
Read on for everything we know so far about The Gray Man 2 – be aware, there are spoilers for the Netflix movie ahead.
Will there be a The Gray Man 2?
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While nothing has been confirmed just yet, it seems likely that a second film will be green-lit in due course, especially if it does well in its first few weeks on Netflix.
When the film was first announced, the Russos claimed that they saw it as the first part of a new action franchise, although they admitted that future instalments depended on the success of the first.
“We have all committed to the first movie, and that’s got to be great to get us to the second movie,” Joe Russo explained.
“We’re not gonna answer every question in the first movie,” he added during a Comic-Con panel in 2020. “This is being conceived as a series of films, and again, potentially branching out, we could follow other characters, but we’re not gonna answer every question in the movie.”
In the time since, both Joe and Anthony have continued to state that they hope to return to these characters – so unless the film badly bombs on Netflix, The Gray Man 2 looks likely, especially when we consider the first film ended in a manner that sets up sequels and that there are several more Mark Greaney books to adapt.
Meanwhile, there have also been reports that a prequel film is in development at Netflix from Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, which would see Chris Evans back as Lloyd Hansen.
As soon as anything gets confirmed, we’ll post it here.
The Gray Man 2 release date speculation
It’s a little too early to guess exactly when we might see a sequel arriving on Netflix – especially when we consider that a follow-up hasn’t even been confirmed at this point.
That said, it would likely be at least another two years before we see the next film in the franchise, especially when you take into account the time taken to write, shoot and edit the film.
Summer 2024 therefore seems like a good guess as to the earliest we might see The Gray Man 2, even if that’s just speculation at this point. When any more concrete updates come our way, we’ll post them right here.
The Gray Man 2 cast speculation
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Final warning – spoilers for The Gray Man follow…
Should a sequel get the go-ahead, there are some actors we can pretty much guarantee would be in line for a return – especially Ryan Gosling in the lead role as Court Gentry/Sierra Six, with the La La Land star already having expressed his desire to continue in the role.
“I loved making this film. I’d love to do it again. I’m hoping we can bump Six up to a name status at some point, just for his own sanity,” Gosling says in the press notes for the first film.
Other key cast members who would also be likely to reprise their roles, include Ana de Armas, Regé-Jean Page, and Jessica Henwick, whose CIA characters might not all be on the best terms given the events of the first film.
Meanwhile, child star Julia Butters is also a good bet to return, especially when we consider that her character Claire Fitzroy went on the run with Six in the closing stages of The Gray Man.
But there are some big names who we can probably rule out returning on account of their characters having been killed off – with Chris Evans, Billy Bob Thornton and Alfre Woodard all falling into that camp.
Of course there are bound to be some new stars as well, and given the calibre of the first film’s cast, we’d expect the new additions to include some pretty big names…
The Gray Man 2 plot theories
While we can’t tell exactly what direction the Russos will decide to take the franchise in, we can make some educated guesses – especially given the films are adapted from a series of books.
The second novel in Mark Greaney’s series is titled On Target, and a synopsis reads: “Four years ago, assassin Court Gentry was betrayed by his handlers in the CIA. Now, an old comrade returns to haunt him – and to force him on a mission against his will.
“With his ruthless employers on one side, his former friends on the other and a doomed mission ahead, Court Gentry would kill to get out of this one alive.”
While that might offer some clues, it’s worth noting that the first film differed rather a lot from Greaney’s debut novel, so any sequel is unlikely to be a straight adaptation.
It does seem likely that we’ll once again see Six come up against the CIA – especially given his run-in with Suzanne Brewer in the previous film – while the dynamic between Suzanne, Denny Carmichael and Dani Miranda also seems ripe for exploration.
And there’s also a good chance that a new big bad will be introduced to replace Lloyd Hansen, with the Russos having teased that we could see the introduction of a new character called The Old Man.
“The movie’s really about a corrupt and toxic patriarchy,” Joe explained. “The Old Man is representative of that. He’s the ethereal character who floats around in the background and clearly has a lot of power and control but is very nefarious.”
When any further details are released we’ll post them here – so keep checking back for all the latest updates about The Gray Man 2.
The Gray Man is available now on Netflix.
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