The Gentlemen season 2 looking likely after huge success despite cast ‘challenge’
The Gentlemen has become Netflix’s biggest hit of the year so far, leading many to wonder: will there be a season two?
Since the series was released on 7 March, it has swiftly topped the streaming service’s most-watched charts – and has impressively retained that spot for a full month in both the UK and US.
Making this even more impressive is the fact it’s fended off competition from 3 Body Problem, the new show from Game of Thrones creator David Benioff and DB Weiss, and Patricia Highsmith adaptation Ripley, starring Andrew Scott.
The Gentlemen is set in the same world as Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, starring Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Dockery and Hugh Grant.
Ritchie oversaw the eight-part series, which follows Theo James and Kaya Scodelario’s Eddie Halstead and Susie Glass, who are thrust together after the former inherits land that’s been co-opted by a weed-growing empire run by Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone). Susie is the de factor head of the syndicate while Bobby is in prison.
The show’s success makes chances of a renewal extremely likely, despite the fact that cast member Giancarlo Esposito told Digital Spy that “nothing was ever discussed of a second season”.
Heightening viewers’ hopes will be comments made by producer Marc Helwig, who said that, while the team had “started the process” of preparing a second season, they would have to wait to see if the series performed well.
“We have started that process,” Helwig told Deadline, adding: “There are some writers we’ve talked to, certainly lots of discussion with Guy about what he might want to do in a second season, what things to focus on.”
Helwig said there has been an “active ongoing discussion already” about “what a second season would be”, suggesting it could “spawn some kind of a universe – a Guy Ritchie world”.
However, Netflix faces a possible obstacle in reuniting the show’s cast, not to mention Ritchie, who reportedly has two projects in the pipeline.
A source toldThe Sun: “‘It’s going to be quite a challenge getting the same actors back together, but Netflix chiefs are keen for a sequel. The success of series one has already convinced them there’s huge potential for a follow-up.’
One person who is hopeful the series will return is lead star James, who described his character’s place at the end of the show as “the beginning of his journey into the heart of darkness”.
Addressing what season two would entail, James told Netflix that “Eddie and Susie just signed the deal with the devil and they’re about to embark on a diabolical journey”.
The Gentlemen is available to stream on Netflix now. The Independent has contacted the streaming service for comment.
