Netflix and Noah Centineo are a match made in streaming heaven – and after the runaway success of To All the Boys, Centineo returned to our screens as the lead in spy thriller The Recruit.
While it's been years now since we last saw Owen Hendricks and that ending of the show's first season, the good news is we already know The Recruit is coming back for season two on Netflix.
The question now is when will those sweet episodes drop on the platform? Here's everything you need to know.
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The Recruit season 2 potential release date
While it might have been some time since we saw Noah Centineo's Hendricks, hopefully, the second season will be worth the wait. The show's showrunner Alexi Hawley previously teased they planned to "turn it all up to '11' in season two" of The Recruit.
Noah added to Tudum: "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."
Things were probably delayed a few months due to last year's writers' and actors' strikes in Hollywood, which are now resolved.
It was announced in January 2024 that production was finally underway and filming for the new season is currently underway in Vancouver, Canada. Shooting is also set to take place in Seoul, South Korea.
But given that they're still filming, we can't expect the second season of The Recruit to hit our screens in the immediate future. As always, we promise to update you as soon as we know more about that long-awaited release date.
The Recruit season 2 cast
The Recruit spoilers follow for season one.
The Recruit wouldn't be The Recruit without... well, the recruit. Noah Centineo will definitely return for a second season, as Owen Hendricks' story is destined to continue.
We can probably expect the following cast members to return as well:
- 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
- Kaylah Zander as Amelia
- Maddie Hasson as Nichka
- Angel Parker as Dawn
- Jesse Collin as Dodge
- Nathan Fillion as CIA Director Alton West
We're a little bit worried about Laura Haddock, though, as her character Max Meladze was shot by Karolina, who turned out to be her daughter, at the end of season one.
But even if it turns out that she didn't make it out of the first season alive, we expect her presence will still impact the show, most likely in flashbacks. She has not yet been announced as part of the season two cast, so we'll have to wait and see.
In terms of new cast members, Past Lives star Teo Yoo has joined the show, taking on the role of Jang Kyun, a "highly skilled South Korean NIS agent with a subversive sense of humour – willing to go to any lengths to protect those he cares about".
During a red carpet interview for Past Lives, Yoo said he was on a break from filming the show in Canada and was set to wrap up his scenes by the end of April. He told Hollywood Reporter that the second season would be "more Korean-centric" and "a lot of fun".
Alongside Yoo, a further announcement revealed plenty more new cast members joining the show and the roles they'll be playing:
- Felix Solis (Ozark) as senior diplomat Tom Wallace
- Devika Bhise (The Rookie: Feds) as CIA Counter Espionage Group officer Juno Marsh
- Brooke Smith (Grey's Anatomy) as CIA Counter Espionage Group officer Marcy Potter
- Omar Maskati (Better Call Saul) as rich kid Jae King
- Kim Young-Ah as Senior Intelligence Officer Grace
- James Purefoy (Sex Education) as British businessman Oliver Bonner Jones
- Shin Do-Hyun as Yoo Jin Lee, who has a childhood connection to Owen
- Lee Sang-hee (All of Us Are Dead) as aide worker Nan Hee
- Alana Hawley Purvis (Supergirl) as CIA Station Chief Amanda Fern
The Recruit season 2 plot
In the final episode of season one, titled 'WTFIOH' (Who the F**k Is Owen Hendricks?), Owen watches Max get shot by Karolina, a Russian woman who may or may not be Max's daughter.
But who is Karolina, really? Will Max survive the attack? And HTFDOHE? (How the F**k Does Owen Hendricks Escape?). These questions — and more — will likely take centre stage in The Recruit season two.
Speaking to Collider, creator Alexi Hawley discussed this possibility further, saying: "I know things about where I would want to take it, and where I'd want to go with it.
"I mean obviously, you hope for success, but as you could see with that ending, I didn’t plan for failure because I feel like in this day and age you just have to be bold, you have to be dramatic, to the expense of everything else."
Hawley added: "And you can't worry about season two, or season three, or beyond. You have to go, 'What’s the best version of this story right now?' And trust that people will come to it. And then you’ll get another shot at it."
He expanded on this when speaking with Variety: "You have to always try and make the most dramatic choice even if it's hard, and even if it does leave you with a cliffhanger — even if it does turn the story 180 degrees. Yes, you can worry about what happens after, but at the same time, I think you have to be bold, especially in this day and age where there's 9,000 shows."
Sharing her reaction to reading this cliffhanger in the script, Haddock added: "Do you remember when Ross in Friends saw Monica and Chandler snogging, and he was like, 'No, no, no'? That was me in the apartment reading it. Got to the last page. 'No!' Threw it. Then I just left my apartment."
As for the series' low-key style, it will most likely remain as is. On the subject of other, more action-heavy and hi-tech spy franchises, Noah Centineo told IOL: "If we were trying to do Bourne [Identity], it would have been sick to have all those gadgets and gizmos. But we're just doing a show about a kid that wants to be a lawyer that gets thrown into the world of espionage, and I loved it for what it was."
Us too, No-No, so it's all good with us.
Is there a trailer for The Recruit season 2?
There's no new footage from The Recruit's second season yet, but we have our best people on the case, so come back here to find out more nearer to the release date.
The Recruit is now available to watch on Netflix.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
