Will There Be a ‘The Gray Man 2’ on Netflix? The Russos Have a ‘Gray Man’ “Universe” Planned

Netflix could really use a franchise hit right now (hit right now), and the streaming service has placed a lot of hopes on The Gray Man, which began streaming today.

The new action-thriller—directed by Marvel alums Anthony and Joe Russo, with a screenplay by Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, and Stephen McFeely—is an adaptation of the 2009 novel of the same name by Mark Greaney. It’s in the tradition of an old-school ’80s action flick, starring Gosling as a CIA agent who goes by “Six,” who was recruited from prison by the agency to become a hit man. But when Six suspects the CIA is up to something even more nefarious than usual, he goes rogue. So the CIA sends a sociopathic Chris Evans to hunt Gosling down.

Spoiler alert for The Gray Man ending: After Jessica Henwick kills Chris Evans, Six and the young girl Claire are taken into custody by the CIA, and kept separate. But not so fast—Six busts out of his prison, and then he busts Claire out, too. The final shot of the movie is the two of them driving off into the horizon, presumably to go into hiding together. And that certainly leaves the door open for the franchise Netflix is hoping for.

So will there be a Gray Man 2? Here’s what we know about a possible Gray Man sequel so far.

Will there be a Gray Man 2?

UPDATE, 7/26/2022: Gray Man hive, rise! Netflix announced in a press release on Tuesday morning that a sequel to The Gray Man is officially in development, with star Ryan Gosling and directors Joe and Anthony Russo set to return. The Russos and AGBO’s Mike Larocca will produce along with Joe Roth and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum for Roth Kirschenbaum Films, and the script will be written by The Gray Man co-writer Stephen McFeely.

But wait, there’s more! A spin-off film, written by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese (Deadpool, Zombieland) is set to explore a different element of The Gray Man universe. (Netflix clarified that the logline for the spin-off film is being kept “under wraps.”)

In the press release announcing the sequel and spin-off, the Russo brothers said, “The audience reaction to The Gray Man has been nothing short of phenomenal. 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.”

Netflix also said in the press release it is ” cementing plans for the IP to become a major spy franchise,” so get ready for a lot of Gray Man content to come.

When asked about a potential sequel movie in an earlier interview with Screenrant, directors Anthony and Joe Russo—who also produced the movie through their company AGBO—said they approached The Gray Man as a franchise, though they did not confirm whether or not The Gray Man 2 was in the works. Said Anthony Russo, “Most things we do here we think about as a narrative universe. Certainly, that’s how we approach The Gray Man. We have many iterations of this narrative in our minds and it can have a variety of expressions, either in films or series.”

Joe added that, if there is a second movie, viewers will finally meet the character referred to as The Old Man. “If we’re fortunate enough that the audience embraces this movie and we’re fortunate enough to make more of them,” he said. “The movie’s really about a corrupt and toxic patriarchy. 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.”

There are so far a total of nine books in The Gray Man series. The second book in the series, Target, follows the protagonist as he is forced to return to his former colleagues at the CIA, thanks to a blackmailing former friend from his past. That said, the first Gray Man movie already went pretty off-book, so there’s no telling how much the second movie (if it happens) would follow the second book. Obviously, they would need to factor in the fact that Ryan Gosling now has a child to look after, which might make beating up the bad guys a tad bit more difficult.

Is there a Gray Man after-credits scene?

Nope! Though we hope there will be more Gray Man on the way soon, the movie ends when it ends. There is not a mid-credits or after-credits scene. This isn’t Marvel, people!