The Gray Man on Netflix: Will there be a sequel?

Warning, spoilers. Before continuing reading the article, it is recommended that you have seen the movie The Gray Man.

Available from July 22nd on Netflix, gray man There’s a new movie from the Russo brothers, who owe two Captain America and two Avengers movies to the Marvel Universe. This action film follows the journey of CIA agent Cort Gentry, aka Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), who was hired as a murderer.

His intelligence and special skills make him one of the best agents codenamed “The Gray Man”. But the situation changes when he meets the compromised American intelligence services. Since then, the CIA and Lloyd Hansen have been hunting him (Chris Evans), a former CIA operative, determined to track down the entire world to eliminate him.

In addition to being hunted around the world, the Sierra Six will have to do whatever it takes to save and protect their employer, Donald Fitzroy.Billy Bob Thornton) and his niece Claire (Julia Butters). Despite some disappointment, Sierra Six is ​​doing well thanks to a deal with the CIA that forces him to take responsibility for Lloyd Hansen’s death.

Imprisoned, the Sierra Six manage to break free and free Claire, who was being held hostage, and the pair fly to other countries for an as-yet-unknown future. Unless Netflix offers a Gray Man sequel. Which is quite possible.

The Gray Man, a franchise?

You must already know that The Gray Man is adapted from a novel of the same name Mark GreenAn action specialist who made a name for himself with this book, which later became a successful literary series. The author has written eleven novels in the series since 2009 – and the twelfth is coming in 2023 – so there’s plenty of cinematic adventures to follow.

And that seems to be the will of Netflix and the filmmakers Antony and Joe Russo. The duo really trusted me Empire That he was already considering creating a sequel and expanding the Gray Man universe:

“We never want to fight each other, but we’re already thinking about what might happen next. We love building worlds and prefer to put the odds on our side and give our energy and time to the world before releasing it. It allows for more relevant and organic ideas. That’s how you build a more complex mosaic narrative. We are closely involved in all of this.

for joe russo, “The goal is to make Gray Man 2” : “We have a hell of an appetite and the intention is always to do more than we can.”

The duo reaffirmed this intention at The Gray Man’s worldwide press conference, which AlloCiné was able to attend. Joe Russo mentioned that they want to create more adventures in the world of the Gray Man:

“Part of our motivation to assemble a cast like this, such an incredible cast who can portray so many interesting characters, was to hope to create a world that you all wanted to follow, in the future or in the past.” From the time we chose in the first movie. So yes, hopefully there will be more stories to tell in the Gray Man’s world.

So the Russo brothers are ambitious, but it’s a challenge they’re up to. They made Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, which is one of the biggest box office hits of all time. Together with Netflix, they put together the most expensive film in the history of the platform with a budget of 200 million dollars.

It remains to be seen whether The Gray Man will be successful on Netflix and whether the success will be significant enough for the American giant to give the Russo brothers the green light for a possible sequel. But with such a budget, it seems that the platform is betting big on The Gray Man, which could be a huge franchise for it and its millions of subscribers.

Netflix has also planned a massive marketing campaign for the film, just like any major blockbuster that hits theaters like Marvel. This was suggested by Joe Russo New York Times : “It’s a very big promo. We’re going on a world tour to promote the movie. The actors are coming with us. It’s very similar to the work we’ve done promoting the Marvel movies.”

Faced with tough competition and a significant loss of subscribers, Netflix is ​​looking to revive its successful franchise. Matthew Tunel, one of the leaders of the platform, explained this in an interview Reuters :

We want our own Star Wars or Harry Potter and we work very hard for it. But it doesn’t happen overnight. And it should start with the story itself. Is it strong enough to last?

There are shows like Stranger Things that are very popular and contain enough mythology and subplots to allow us to turn the show into anime, live action, or animated movies.

If Netflix has its big successes with series like Stranger Things, La Chronique des Bridgerton, La Casa de Papel, Squid Game and movies like Tyler Rake, Red Notice, Enola Holmes, the platform has yet to hit the ground running. A franchise on the same level as its competitors referred to as Star Wars or Harry Potter. Could The Gray Man Be The First Franchise For Netflix?