Summary

• Joe Russo confirms that The Gray Man 2 is still in active development, but they're trying to figure out the story.
• The Gray Man 2 was first announced in July 2022, but few updates have been released since.
• The first movie earned mixed to negative reviews from critics, leaving room for improvement in the sequel.

The Gray Man co-director Joe Russo shares a new update on The Gray Man 2, 2 years after the original movie's release. Based on a 2009 novel by Mark Greaney, the Russo brothers' action thriller debuted on Netflix in July 2022. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Court Gentry, aka Sierra Six, a CIA assassin who earns a target on his back after he discovers dark agency secrets. The Gray Man 2 was confirmed to be in development only a week after the first film's debut.

In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Russo shares a new update on The Gray Man 2, confirming that the project is still in active development. According to the filmmaker, they're still trying to figure out exactly where to take the story and Gosling's character. Check out Russo's full comment below:

"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."

How The Gray Man 2 Can Improve On The Original

The Gray Man Left Much To Be Desired

The Gray Man was made on a budget of about $200 million, making it one of the most expensive Netflix original movies of all time. A large chunk of this surely went towards assembling The Gray Man's impressive cast, but the sum wasn't enough to make the rest of the movie as much of a slam dunk. The film ultimately earned mixed to negative reviews from critics, continuing a disappointing trend for Netflix and their expensive, blockbuster-like projects.

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Gray Man has a lackluster 45%, and the score is about the same on Metacritic at 49 out of 100. The Gray Man reviews took issue with action scenes that were visually quite muddy, and a story that feels mostly like an assemblage of plot points from better spy thrillers. Even though Gosling is normally a reliable talent, the character of Six just comes across as somewhat flat. This leaves lots of room for improvement in the sequel.

While the critics' response to The Gray Man was mixed at best, the film's 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes suggests the movie was much more enjoyable to general viewers.

If cast members like Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, and Julia Butters return, The Gray Man 2 will be off to a good start, but the sequel should perhaps focus on telling a more powerful story. The first film jumps from set piece to set piece at a jarring pace, and the follow-up would do well to give more weight to each action set piece and its role in a stronger, more character-driven story. While Russo's latest update confirms the The Gray Man 2 is still in the works, it sounds like the film is still quite a ways off.

Source: GamesRadar