Eddie Horniman (Theo James) is no longer the reluctant duke finding his footing in a criminal underworld — he’s scaling up his empire, and everyone around him is about to feel the repercussions.
When Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen returns on Sept. 3, a year will have passed since Eddie became the reluctant heir to his aristocratic family’s rambling estate. Now, after joining forces with Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) and her luxuriously incarcerated father, Bobby (Ray Winstone), Eddie is discovering that being a power player in the criminal underworld fits him like an immaculately tailored suit.
Lead writer and executive producer Matthew Read says the season grew out of a core idea: “Season 2 was always going to be about Eddie expanding the reach of his criminal empire and testing the relationship Eddie has with Bobby Glass as the person he’s working under.”
Theo James as Eddie Horniman and Giancarlo Esposito as Stanley Johnston
Kaya Scodelario as Susie Glass
Ray Winstone as Bobby Glass
For James, Eddie’s ambition has been building internally and is ready to explode outward. "By Season 2, he is a man very much at the helm of it, and he’s bought into the possibilities of what both worlds can bring him, both as an aristocrat and a criminal," James tells Tudum. As seen in the trailer, Eddie is thinking about his destiny to lead, his birthright as the Duke of Halstead. “That ignites a fiery ambition in him, and it also starts to move the ego,” says James. “It gives him the ability to make decisions based on this idea of wanting more."
Scroll on for more about The Gentlemen Season 2.
It’s been one year since Eddie and Susie joined forces to work together in Bobby’s criminal empire overseas. As they expand their enterprise, the decisions Bobby makes appear to be increasingly unsound. Now Eddie and Susie must decide whether to take action or risk losing it all, but unfettered ambition never ends well….
“I think Eddie is extremely aspirational,” says Read. “He wants more.”
To Eddie, “more” is a lot. The new season takes Eddie and Susie’s operation from a cannabis farm buried underneath Halstead to the lakeside villas of Italy, where the power duo establishes a foothold.
James as Eddie Horniman and Benedetta Porcaroli as Bella
Harry Goodwins as Jack Glass, Scodelario as Susie Glass, Logan Dean as Blanket, and Michael Vu as Jimmy Chang
Ruby Sear as Gabrielle, Scodelario as Susie Glass, and Goodwins as Jack Glass
“They’re operating in Italy under the radar,” says Read. But it’s hard to stay unnoticed while climbing the criminal food chain. This brings Eddie into the orbit of Marco Moretti (Sergio Castellitto), a powerful Italian crime boss who Read describes as “extremely ruthless and elegant,” and the mercurial fixer Cico Maldini (Michele Morrone). “[Cico] is the man they’re entrusting to help them navigate their criminal enterprise in Italy, but he’s not a man to be trusted,” says Read.
Eddie is also raising his profile within the world of the legit establishment, and all his alliances are tested. “The risk is, does he want too much?” asks Read. “Will he lose his soul in his quest to ascend?”
Hugh Bonneville as Lord Hawthorne and James as Eddie Horniman
Yes, feast your eyes on the leveled-up new chapter in the trailer at the top of this article.
Through all the life-or-death dealmaking, betrayals, and grabs at unspeakable amounts of money and influence revealed in the trailer, the season focuses on Eddie and Susie’s complicated bond — and their often conflicting motivations. “There is a great connection between them,” Read says. “In order to deepen that connection, we threw a lot of obstacles at them, and yet their affection and connection always shows through that.”
Eddie and Susie’s relationship will evolve in Season 2. “I think it is a closeness and danger — I think that’s what their attraction to each other is,” Scodelario tells Tudum. “He is her investment. And if he’s no longer a reliable investment, what does that mean to her?”
Scodelario as Susie Glass and Maya Jama as Aisha
Vinnie Jones as Geoff Seacombe
Jasmine Blackborow as Charlotte Horniman and Benjamin Clementine as Nanny
Cast members who’ll be returning for Season 2 include Theo James (The Monkey, The White Lotus), Kaya Scodelario (Senna, Crawl), Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast, Nil By Mouth), Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie, The Crown), Joely Richardson (Renegade Nell, One Day), Vinnie Jones (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch), Jasmine Blackborow (Legends, Marie Antoinette), Michael Vu (Sumotherhood, In the Grey), Harry Goodwins (One Spoon of Chocolate, Sunset Drive), Ruby Sear (Clayface), Pearce Quigley (Detectorists, Showtrial), and Giancarlo Esposito (The Residence, Captain America: Brave New World).
New players stacking the cast include Hugh Bonneville (I Came By, The Agency), Benjamin Clementine (Dune, Blitz), Benedetta Porcaroli (The Leopard, Amanda), Amra Mallassi (Dune: Part Two, Hijack), Tyler Conti (Tell Me Everything, Safe), British professional boxer Chris Eubank Jr., and broadcaster and entrepreneur Maya Jama.
Jama as Aisha
Tyler Conti as Joe
Creator: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Guy Ritchie, Matthew Read, Danielle Ward, John Jackson, and Iain Weatherby
Directors: Guy Ritchie, Eran Creevy, Nick Rowland
Executive producers: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, Matthew Read, Will Gould, Simon Crawford Collins and Frith Tiplady for Moonage Pictures alongside Jonathan Glickman and Marc Helwig for Miramax TV
Co-executive producer: Theo James
Producers: Max Keene and Laura Jackson
Co-producer: Emily Shapland
Consulting producer: Eran Creevy
Costume designer: Loulou Bontemps
Hair and makeup designer: Chloe Meddings
Production designers: Martyn John, James North
Supervising location manager: Iggy (Ian) Ellis
Casting directors: Dan Hubbard, Rory Okey
A gentleman’s work is never done. Netflix has confirmed a third season for the series. “The ambition of The Gentlemen has accelerated, the world has expanded, and the consequences carry weight. A third season felt inevitable, and I’m looking forward to pushing the boundaries of it further,” says Ritchie.
The Gentlemen Season 2 premieres Sept. 3, only on Netflix.
