Everything To Know About The Gray Man Sequel

With a cast of bonafide all-stars and the largest-ever budget for a Netflix Original, The Gray Man has become one of the hit movies of the summer. Based on Mark Greaney’s 2009 espionage novel of the same name, the action-thriller is only the first of eleven books (with number 12 scheduled for a Feb. 2023 release) — meaning there’s not just room for a sequel: This could be the beginning of a whole new franchise.

Starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans as CIA agents-turned-enemies, The Gray Man revolves around a black ops mercenary called Sierra Six (Gosling) who accidentally digs up top-secret information from the agency’s underbelly, therefore making him the CIA’s most wanted target. Given that The Gray Man concludes with loose ends left untied and questions unanswered (no spoilers!), fans are already wondering if there will be a The Gray Man 2.

Below, everything that’s known about The Gray Man sequel — and the larger franchise.

The Gray Man 2 Is Officially In The Works

Netflix shared via Twitter in July 2022 that a sequel had been greenlit: “The Gray Man Universe is expanding! A sequel to The Gray Man is now in development with star Ryan Gosling, directors Joe & Anthony Russo & co-writer Stephen McFeely set to return!” In the same post, it was also announced that a spin-off is also in development from Deadpool screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese.

“The audience reaction to The Gray Man has been nothing short of phenomenal,” co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo Brothers said in a press statement. “We are so appreciative of the enthusiasm that fans across the world have had for this film. With so many amazing characters in the movie, we had always intended for the Gray Man to be part of an expanded universe, and we are thrilled that Netflix is announcing a sequel with Ryan, as well as a second script that we’re excited to talk about soon.”

A release date for The Gray Man 2 and its spin-off(s) haven’t been announced yet. Bustle will be sure to update this article as more information becomes available.

The Film’s Directors Say Their “Focus Is To Make Gray Man 2.”

Directors Anthony and Joe Russo (aka the Russo Brothers) never intended for The Gray Man to be a one-off movie. They elaborated on their plans at a CCXP event in Dec. 2020, saying that they weren’t “gonna answer every question in the first movie.”

“This is being conceived as a series of films, and again, potentially branching out, we could follow other characters,” Joe Russo reportedly said at the event. “So you're gonna finish the movie, [and] have a complete story, but you're still gonna have questions about the wider universe. And I think that's one way to break the model a little bit, is to not give the audience everything in one film.”

More recently, in a joint interview with Empire, the fraternal co-directors teased a sequel and an eventual franchise with spin-offs, though they were careful not to get ahead of themselves. “We never want to jinx it … But we’re already thinking through where it goes from here,” Joe told Empire. We like to build out worlds, and we would rather gamble on the upside and put the energy and time in to build out that universe prior to the release, so that the ideas are more germane and organic. That’s how you build out a more complex mosaic narrative.”

Joe added that he and his brother are “intimately involved” in subsequent planning and that “the focus is to make Gray Man 2.”