What Do We Know About the upcoming second season of the Paramount+ series Tulsa King? More than you may think. The Taylor Sheridan series has been one of the most successful projects from the Yellowstone creator that does not feature the Dutton Family. With a second season greenlit almost as soon as the first episode debuted, everyone has been wondering what is coming from the show’s sophomore run. So, let’s dive in and take a look at what Sylvester Stallone and his crime crew will be coming up with this year.
Who is running the show (literally)?
The first season of Tulsa King was overseen by Terence Winter, best known as the creator of Boardwalk Empire and a main writer and executive producer on The Sopranos. He wrote the screenplay for The Wolf of Wall Street and developed Tulsa King alongside Taylor Sheridan ahead of this season. Winter was demoted due to what are called creative differences by the media. Winter eventually left a direct role in writing the series but remains aboard as an executive producer. Eventually, details emerged that Sheridan fired Winter because Sheridan prefers “character-driven plots” while Winter likes “plot-driven characters.” This was back in 2023, and in February 2024, Winter was rehired as a writer when the Writer’s Guild strike opened up a spot in his schedule. Winter’s duties as a writer will be outside of Sheridan’s direct supervision. That sounds like a productive work environment. While not using a conventional showrunner for the second season, Sheridan selected Craig Zisk to oversee day-to-day operations on the show.
Who is it about?
Coming our way from Bosque Ranch Productions, Cold Front Productions, Balboa Productions, and MTV Entertainment Studios, Tulsa King tells the story of Dwight “The General” Manfredi, a Mafia capo who is released from prison at the start of the story and begins to set up a criminal organization in Tulsa, Oklahoma while trying to fix his relationship with his estranged daughter Tina (Tatiana Zappardino).
The first season of Tulsa King ended with Dwight’s crew beating a rival biker gang led by Waltrip (Ritchie Coster) followed by ATF agent Stacy (Andrea Savage) having Dwight arrested, despite also being his love interest. Chickie (Domenick Lombardozzi), the Invernizzi family’s new boss, is plotting revenge against Dwight. The biggest questions leading into season two will be whether Dwight and Stacy are still an item and how Chickie will exact his revenge against Dwight.
Production shifted from Oklahoma to Atlanta
After the crew complained about Oklahoma filming conditions, the Tulsa King season 2 production shifted to Atlanta. Despite no longer being filmed in the locale where the story takes place, the increased flexibility of studio resources in Atlanta will offer more opportunities for the crew to expand their production values and incorporate more acting talent for the series.
Who is directing this season?
The second season has not revealed much in terms of logistics outside of Craig Zisk running the show, but it is entirely possible that he will helm at least a couple of episodes. The odds are that directors from season one will return, including Lodge Kerrigan, Guy Ferland, Ben Semanoff, and Allen Coulter. As Taylor Sheridan has taken more of a producer role on his projects in recent years, it remains to be seen if he will write or direct any episodes of Tulsa King.
Who is joining the cast?
Most of the main cast from the first season are returning, including Andrea Savage as Stacy Beale, Jay Will as Tyson, Martin Starr as Bodhi, Max Casella as Armand Truisi, Dana Delaney as Margaret, and Domenick Lombardozzi as Chickie Ivernizzi. For season two, Annabella Sciorra and Tatiana Zappardino were upped to series regulars, while Frank Grillo is the biggest new addition to the cast. Grillo will play Bill Bevilaqua, a Kansas City mobster and foil for Stallone’s Dwight Manfredi.
When will we see it?
Production on season two began on April 1, 2024, and Stallone himself announced via his Instagram page that fans could expect season two to start rolling out in September. As it turns out, September 15th is the official premiere date. So it’ll be back sooner than fans think! With the premiere less than three months away, a teaser trailer has arrived online: