The Recruit season 2 release updates, cast, and everything we know so far
We have some big updates about The Recruit season 2 to share! Unfortunately, it’s not all good news.
In 2022, Netflix shows reached an all-time high with the releases of Bridgerton season 2, Stranger Things season 4, Wednesday, and more titles fans spent hundreds of millions of hours watching. When The Recruit became a hit around the holidays, a second-season renewal was a given.
Noah Centineo, the leading man of Netflix’s smash To All the Boys teen rom-com trilogy, stars in the spy thriller The Recruit as bumbling CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks, who becomes deeply entrenched in a dangerous situation involving a former CIA asset. After the shocking end of the first season, fans are waiting to see what’s next in season 2.
We’ll update this story as Netflix shares more information about The Recruit season 2. The latest update was made on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.
The Recruit season 2 is happening
The hit Netflix original thriller series The Recruit will be back for a second season, as announced by the streaming service in January 2023.
Netflix announced the renewal a little over a month after the show’s Dec. 16, 2022 premiere. The Recruit saw 52.3 million hours viewed within its first few days of release, and followed up with 95.59 million hours viewed in its second but first full week of release during the holidays. These numbers made a renewal a no-brainer for Netflix.
When Netflix announced that the series was renewed for season 2, creator and showrunner Alexi Hawley shared his excitement about the next chapter of Owen Hendricks’ story, telling TUDUM:
“I’m thrilled to dive back into the fun, funny, action-packed world of The Recruit. Seeing how invested our audience became in the show’s adventurous take on the spy world and Noah’s turn as Owen has been incredibly rewarding, and I can’t wait to turn it all up to “11” in Season Two.”
Series star and executive producer Noah Centineo echoed Hawley’s excitement:
“I know I speak for our entire cast and executive team at eOne and Netflix when I say that we are thrilled to be returning to The Recruit for a second season. I’m looking forward to seeing what Alexi Hawley has in store for us all.”
The Recruit season is delayed due to the actors’ strike
According to Screen Rant, the second season of The Recruit was scheduled to begin filming in Vancouver sometime in June 2023. Given that start date and the filming schedule of the first season, production on season 2 could have wrapped by the end of the year, leaving the series on target for a return in 2024.
However, because of the ongoing strikes in the entertainment industry, the filming start date is postponed indefinitely. Under the SAG-AFTRA strike against the AMPTP, actors in the union cannot legally work with the studios, which includes Noah Centineo and his castmates.
Unlike with The Night Agent season 2, pre-production on The Recruit season 2 had a lot more time to happen before the WGA strike started in May 2023. That said, it’s possible the scripts are already written and the cast would be ready to go if the actors weren’t on strike.
Creator Alexi Hawley has been sharing frequent updates on the strike on Twitter and also shared a picture of The Recruit writers on the picket line in June:
Actor Colton Dunn, who plays Lester Kitchens, has been out striking with friends and former co-stars, sharing updates from the picket lines to his Instagram account. The same can be said for actor Kristian Bruun, who plays Janus Ferber in The Recruit, who shared a photo in support of the writers’ strike. Centineo hasn’t shared photos about the strike, though he has only posted to his Instagram a few times this year.
The first season of The Recruit began filming in Quebec and Los Angeles back in late October 2021 and wrapped filming by late March 2022. Being so, filming took about five months for the first season’s eight episodes, and we can pretty much assume the second season will take about as long. After filming wrapped, the series took about eight months before finally premiering on Netflix.
Has The Recruit season 2 release date been announced?
No, the release date for The Recruit season 2 has not been announced, and it’s not coming to Netflix anytime soon. Even though the first season dropped in December 2022, season 2 won’t be ready for release by December 2023. Along with the renewal, Netflix confirmed The Recruit season 2 is coming in 2024.
Production was supposed to begin in June 2023, but because of the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strikes, they cannot begin production. While the scripts might be done already, actors in SAG-AFTRA are not allowed to work on projects under the AMPTP at this time, which includes Netflix.
If the actors’ strike isn’t over by the end of the year, the announced 2024 release date for The Recruit season 2 is likely not happening. There just wouldn’t be enough time for production and post-production. Fortunately, we still have time in 2023 for the strike to come to a close and production to start. But no one knows when the AMPTP might come around and compromise.
Release prediction: Late 2024 or early 2025
The Recruit season 2 cast
Noah Centineo will return to lead the cast of The Recruit as his lovable CIA lawyer Owen Hendricks, and it’s expected that the entire main cast will also return to reprise their roles. Fans could also see one particular character upped to a series regular, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Here’s a list of main cast members expected to return for season 2:
- Noah Centineo as Owen Hendricks
- Laura Haddock as Max Meladze
- Aarti Mann as Violet
- Colton Dunn as Lester
- Fivel Stewart as Hannah
- Daniel Quincy Annoh as Terence
- Kristian Bruun as Janus Ferber
- Vondie Curtis-Hall as Walter Nyland
Toward the end of the first season, Maddie Hasson played the character Nichka, who was (SPOILER ALERT!) later revealed to be Max’s daughter, Karolina. As of this writing, it’s unclear in what capacity Hasson will return as Karolina, but she’s expected to play at least somewhat of a large part of the season 2 story given the ending of the season 1 finale.
Additional casting announcements for potential new supporting characters should be revealed by Netflix as filming for the upcoming second season gets underway. We’ll share the casting news as it’s revealed, so make sure to bookmark this page.
What’s next in The Recruit season 2? (spoilers!)
The end of the first season of The Recruit finds Owen getting kidnapped by the mysterious blonde woman he met at the bar, who turns out to be Max’s daughter Karolina. Not only does Karolina have Owen tied up, but she potentially shot and killed Max, her estranged mother.
Going into the second season, we have unanswered questions about Max’s fate, the extent of what Karolina has been up to, and how these developments will play a role in Owen’s story moving forward. We need to know why Karolina has been working against her mother and what happened to their relationship.
Owen has gotten himself into some dangerous and potentially fatal situations in season 1, and it seems as though the twists and turns aren’t over for the CIA lawyer in season 2. Centineo and Hawley haven’t revealed any teases of what to expect story-wise in season 2, but we’ll be sure to share any hints that arise before the release.
How many seasons of The Recruit are there?
Currently, there’s only one season of The Recruit available to watch on Netflix, and there’s a second season in the works as we speak. It’s unclear how many seasons the creative team and Netflix have in mind for the series at this time.
If the series continues to post big numbers with the release of season 2, there’s no way Netflix wouldn’t renew The Recruit for season 3 and possibly season 4 in the future. The show has proven itself both as a dark horse performer that could grow into one of Netflix’s most popular originals.
Where to watch The Recruit season 2
Because The Recruit is a Netflix Original, the one place you can watch it is on Netflix. The second season will also be streaming exclusively on the streaming service.
The Recruit has definitely become one of the best shows on Netflix. Stay tuned for more news and updates on the series from Netflix Life!