Taylor Sheridan crime drama Tulsa King – which stars Sylvester Stallone in his first major TV role – is returning to TV screens, so here’s how Season 2 differs to Season 1.
Season 1 dropped in 2022 to solid reviews and even better ratings. Yellowstone mastermind Taylor Sheridan originally wrote the pilot, which Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter then retooled and made his own.
The series stars Sylvester Stallone as Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi, who finds himself exiled to Oklahoma, where he starts building a new crime empire in Tulsa.
On Tulsa King Season 2, that shady enterprise flourishes, but comes under threat from both a powerful local businessman, as well as the Kansas City mob. Here’s what to expect in terms of changes for the new season.
More fun in Tulsa King Season 2
Season 1 of Tulsa King was concerned with introducing the characters to audiences, establishing their world, and setting up storylines. Now Terence Winter and his team can really get stuck in.
“This is where the fun starts,” Winter told The Hollywood Reporter. “You can start building on those relationships, we can get into the backstories, and we see them develop and get faced with more challenges and conflicts.”
More knowledge for Dwight
Winter says that many of the criminals he’s met have been smart, because they spent all their time behind bars reading books. Dwight is no different, even discussing poetry in the opening episode of Season 2. So expect more knowledge.
“That’s one of the fun things about writing this character,” Winter says in the same interview. “Dwight is way smarter than you would expect. He’s read everything, and he’s not shy about sharing that.”
Winter adds: “Giving Dwight surprising knowledge or surprising dialogue is always fun. I think the audience really loves it.”
Neal McDonough plays a new bad guy
Neal McDonough has been cast as Cal Thresher in Season 2, who is described as a powerful and extremely territorial businessman. Which puts him on a collision course with Manfredi.
“He comes in under the radar,” Winter explains. “He’s got that smile. He’s probably halfway through threatening you before you realize that he’s threatening you. Somebody pointed out to me that he doesn’t blink. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s what it is.’ He’s got those laser blue eyes. He’s so intense.
“He was an actor I’ve been wanting to work with for years. When you’re casting for somebody to go up against Sylvester Stallone, they got to have gravitas. Sometimes you see an actor go up against another actor and you can see one of them shrinking. That’s not the case with Neal and Sly.”
More character development
“I’m really proud of how the season plays out,” Winter tells THR. “Watch for the character development. There are some big events and big emotional changes that happen with our characters.
“If you like these people in Season 1, you’ll like them even more in Season 2, because you really get to know them on a much deeper level. We’ve got such an incredible lineup with a deep bench of really talented actors.
“For me, the challenge is that we’ve only got a certain amount of real estate in which to showcase everybody. But I think we did a good job this season of letting everybody spread their wings and really flex those muscles.”
Tulsa King Season 2 launches this Sunday (September 15) on Paramount+. Head here for all Taylor Sheridan shows currently in production, or here for the Sylvester Stallone controversy on the Tulsa King set.