The Night Agent season 2 release updates, cast, and everything we know so far
The Night Agent remains one of the most popular Netflix shows of the year so far, and fans have lots of questions about The Night Agent season 2. Unfortunately, we have some bad news to share with fans of the series, courtesy of creator Shawn Ryan.
The Netflix original series premiered on Netflix on Thursday, March 23, 2023, and was an overnight success, seeing extremely high viewership numbers. The show was even more popular than Stranger Things season 3 in its first 28 days after release!
The political drama is based on the book of the same name by Matthew Quirk.
We shared everything we know so far about The Night Agent season 2 below. We’ll share more updates for the new season as we learn more. The latest update was on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.
The Night Agent season 2 is delayed by writers’ and actors’ strike
In case you haven’t been keeping up with the latest entertainment industry news, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) are currently on strike, which means writers and actors under these unions cannot work with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which includes Netflix.
Because of this, neither writing nor filming for The Night Agent season 2 is allowed. So while we know the second season is coming, we don’t know when the cast or crew will be able to work on it. Creator Shawn Ryan has been very outspoken about the strikes, providing fans with updates from the picket line and the status of the second season.
In May 2023, Ryan tweeted a picture of himself from the picket line of the WGA strike. He mentioned The Night Agent in the caption and suggested that the writers’ room for The Night Agent season 2 would be on hold until the strike is over.
More recently, on Aug. 9, Ryan shared another photo from the picket line outside of Netflix Studios. In his caption, he commemorated the 100th day of the writers’ strike, also telling his fans that he’d rather be out making The Night Agent season 2. But of course, until the AMPTP comes around and agrees to the writers’ terms, he can’t do that.
While The Night Agent star Gabriel Basso hasn’t been posting photos out striking, he has weighed in on the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence), a popular topic of conversation as of late. Both the actors and writers in the U.S. unions are concerned about AI, particularly not wanting studios to use the technology to write scripts for qualified writers to then be paid less to rewrite. And actors don’t want studios to scan their likeness through AI and essentially clone them in TV and movies. These concerns, among others, are very valid.
Basso took to Instagram in late July to share his thoughts on AI, starting off by telling his followers that he “hate[s] technology.” He went on to explain that he’s not afraid of AI, but rather believes because he’s not a machine he can make valuable art.
“AI can never and will never be able to fabricate a soul,” Basso wrote. “Art without soul is material, and what makes art valuable can not be measured strictly in the material sense.”
The Night Agent season 2 was set to film in August 2023
On July 10, the show’s creator revealed that The Night Agent season 2 would be in production in August 2023 had the AMPTP made a deal with the WGA to avoid the writers’ strike. Ryan tweeted a picture of himself picketing outside Netflix headquarters in July 2023 sharing this with fans:
The AMPTP hasn’t offered the WGA a deal that meets their terms, so the writers’ strike continues through the summer of 2023. Deadline reported that the studios’ plan is to wait until the writers are losing their homes and apartments before coming back to negotiate a new deal: “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”
The Night Agent season 2 was renewed in March 2023
The streamer renewed The Night Agent for season 2 six days after the series premiered! That’s a quick renewal, especially considering it took several months for Netflix to renew Wednesday, which was the biggest show on the platform in 2022 and the third-biggest opening for a Netflix show of all time.
The Night Agent wasn’t quite as big as Wednesday, but it’s in the top 10 most-viewed series on Netflix.
Ryan shared his thoughts on the renewal, via Netflix:
“The last week has been a whirlwind as we’ve finally been able to share The Night Agent with the world. To see the tremendous reaction to the show has been a great joy and is a credit to our cast, our writers, our directors, our crew and our partners at Sony Pictures Television and Netflix. We couldn’t be any prouder or more excited to get cracking on Season 2 to share the further adventures of Night Action with our newfound fans.”
Has Netflix announced The Night Agent season 2 release date?
Unfortunately, no, Netflix has not announced The Night Agent season 2 release date yet. That said, along with the renewal news the streamer also announced the second installment would be coming out in 2024. That’s great news, though we’re unsure if that will happen anymore because of the ongoing strikes.
Mission Accepted: The Night Agent Season 2. Coming 2024 💥 pic.twitter.com/2ukNSbcuHl
— Netflix (@netflix) March 29, 2023
We also know that no one had started working on The Night Agent season 2 until after the renewal, though. Ryan told Deadline that they had not formed the writers’ room for season 2 because the season was not picked up.
As mentioned, Ryan and his team have shut down the writing process. If the strike lasts into fall, The Night Agent season 2 could be pushed back much longer than Netflix was anticipating.
The good thing about The Night Agent is that we don’t anticipate it would take a long time to film season 2. Of course, it depends on what happens in the season, but I think there’s a really good chance that we see the second season on Netflix at some point in 2024.
Usually, it takes about a year between when work starts on a new season and when it’s released on Netflix, at minimum. That wait can get a lot longer depending on a few things, but for the most part, that should be enough time.
Originally, spring 2024 seemed like a good prediction for the new season of the series, but we know that Netflix shows need about a year from the start of production until they’re ready to roll out to the public. Production hasn’t started, and the strike started soon after the show was picked up for season 2. That’s not enough time to write a full season.
For now, we have to bump our release prediction back to fall 2024. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the strikes will end anytime soon.
Release Prediction: Fall 2024
The Night Agent season 2 cast
Though it’s early, we do have a good idea of who will be part of The Night Agent season 2 cast, along with a tease from Ryan.
Gabriel Basso will definitely be back as Peter Sutherland. He’s the lead, and he’s set for an even bigger role in season 2.
We’re also expecting that we’ll see Luciane Buchanan and Fola Evans-Akingbola back in season 2. There’s a chance that they might not be involved, but they were big enough characters in the first season, it’d be a shame if the story moved away from these great characters.
Ryan also mentioned to Deadline ahead of the renewal that he envisions that most of the cast for a second season (and beyond) would be different:
If we are successful enough that Netflix wants more seasons, I think there’d be a whole new world in which you would see a limited number of characters from this current season going into that. But that’s something that I’d have to sit down with the writers and have it all figured out.
The Night Agent season 2 episode count
Netflix announced that The Night Agent season 2 will have 10 episodes. The first season of the series also consisted of 10 episodes.
The Night Agent season 1 ending explained
At the end of the first season of The Night Agent, Peter, Rose, and Agent Arrington stop the attack on the President at Camp David. The Vice President is taken into custody, as is Diane Farr. We have to assume that they won’t be involved in future episodes after the fallout from the Metro bombing and assassination attempt.
We also see Gordon Wick, the mysterious CEO, flee. He could be a big part of future seasons.
At the very end of the season, Peter becomes a Night Agent! Well, that’s what we assume. He reads a document that reads: “Night Action: Mission Brief,” and then takes off on a jet. Peter is a full-on spy now!
Is there a second Night Agent book?
Unfortunately, there’s only one Night Agent book by Matthew Quirk. While there’s no second book now, I would assume that could change in the near future. This was a huge commercial success. I think people would be very interested in this story continuing in print.
What’s next in The Night Agent season 2?
To assume we know what’s going to happen in The Night Agent season 2 would be a mistake. It looks like the writers have a lot of room to play with this story and can move in any direction.
Overall, I’m thinking Peter’s story is going to continue as a Night Agent, and he’ll be looking to take down corrupt officials and high-profile criminals and companies around the world.
There’s a lot we still don’t know about the Night Action program. We know about a few agents, including Rose’s aunt and uncle. I think we’re going to learn a lot about the program what the official mission of the program is and how Peter can help.
We should also see Chelsea Arrington and Rose continue their careers after saving the country. Are Peter and Rose still together romantically? Could she be a spy in the future like her aunt and uncle? It seems like things are up in the air.
In April 2023, Ryan told ComicBook.com that there will not be that many returning characters in season 2:
“When I pitched it to Netflix, I essentially said, This is an ongoing show, but each season will be its own self-contained story. And then future seasons would have very few characters porting over from the previous season. We’re not trying to keep seven or eight characters going throughout multiple seasons.”
He also revealed the new season and story will not take place in or around Washington D.C.
“So one thing I will tell you about Season 2 is it does not take place in the DC area, which is where Season 1 took place.”
That’s all we know about The Night Agent season 2 so far. The series is on our list of the best shows on Netflix. Stay tuned for more news about season 2.
FanSided Entertainment Staff contributed to this report.