Director Joe Russo, co-director of The Gray Man, has just shared a new update on the sequel. The film premiered in 2022 on Netflix and it was a huge hit with the audience.

The Gray Man is intended to spawn several films, including a sequel and a spin-off. The 2022 action film was based on Mark Greaney's 2009 novel of the same name. The novel is part of an eponymous series that includes 13 books as of 2024, which means the Russo Brothers have a lot of source material for their upcoming projects in the universe. The Gray Man starred Ryan Gosling as Court Gentry aka Sierra Six, Ana de Armas as Dani Miranda, and Chris Evans as the villain Lloyd Hansen.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Joe Russo shared an update about the upcoming The Gray Man 2. The sequel was announced in 2022, shortly after the first film's release, and Russo confirms the upcoming sequel is in active development. "We're developing concepts we think are the right direction to take the character in and so, we are working on that at the moment. I mean, you're juggling like 14 things at the same time so you have to apportion your time correctly to each one of them."

Anthony Russo also noted that the development wouldn't be possible without the support they received from their production company AGBO: "But that’s part of the benefit of having our own company now, which is filled with really important collaborators that we've been working with for many years, and that's the only way we're able to sustain this level of work. We always joke there's not two Russo Brothers, there's like 14."

The Gray Man 2 Has to Outperform The First One

The Gray Man wasn't a huge hit with the critics, as it holds a disappointing 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience seemed to enjoy it, boasting a score of 90% on the same review aggregator website. However, reviews noted the film seemed to borrow plot points from other action/spy films, and that the action scenes felt underwhelming with an incohesive script.

The action film had a huge budget of about $200 million, making it one of the most expensive Netflix original productions. That is in part because of its stellar cast. Aside from Gosling, de Armas, and Evans, The Gray Man also starred Billy Bob Thorton, Jessica Henwick, Regé-Jean Page, and Julia Butters, whose performances were hyped in the reviews.

Ryan Gosling is expected to return as the lead actor, with Netflix promising a focus on Gosling's character. Dhanush as Avik San ("The Lone Wolf"), is also confirmed to return, and will also get his own spin-off movie. However, the rest of the cast members aren't confirmed to reprise their roles.

So far, there's no official release date for The Gray Man 2, but the first film is available to stream on Netflix.

Source: GamesRadar+