The director of The Beekeeper 2 has hinted at more villains to come in the action sequel. The first film starred Jason Statham as an ex-assassin who comes out of retirement after someone close to him becomes the victim of an advanced phishing scam. The Beekeeper was a box office success, and the sequel is well into production after filming started in September 2025.
Timo Tjahjanto, who is taking over directing duties from David Ayer on The Beekeeper franchise, spoke to The Direct about the sequel during an interview for his most recent film, Nobody 2.
Tjahjanto praised The Beekeeper 2's script from writer Umair Aleem, hinting that "there are so many new villains" appearing in the movie.
Speaking about the antagonists in the sequel, Tjahjanto said they would be honing in on the "villain element," revealing it will be "so unpredictable and colorful:"
"I personally can't wait. The script is so great, and there are so many new villains that are coming in the film. And a film is always great, because - especially a film like 'Beekeeper' - it's always great because the villain element is going to be so unpredictable and colorful, and that's what we want to do in the second film."
Statham is joined by several return cast members for The Beekeeper 2, including Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bobby Naderi, Jeremy Irons, and Jemma Redgrave.
The villain in The Beekeeper was a tech bro CEO and nepo baby, played by Five Nights at Freddy's star Josh Hutcherson, the leader of an international phishing scam, and whom Statham's Adam Clay put an end to in the final act.
A few newcomers are joining The Beekeeper universe in the sequel, with Yara Shahidi, Pom Klementieff, and Adam Copeland announced as cast members. This leaves the options wide open for who may star as the franchise's next colorful villain (or villains).
Filming is currently underway, with Amazon MGM Studios distributing the film once again. The Beekeeper 2 does not yet have a release window.
Who Will Be the Villains in Beekeeper 2?
With only a few brand new cast members announced for The Beekeeper 2 right now, the film could go in several directions for its villains. Despite being an action thriller film set in the high-stakes world of spies and assassins, The Beekeeper has a slightly more absurdist take on the genre.
Tjahjanto shared with MovieWeb that this would continue in his take on the sequel, suggesting that the villains would feel like "something out of an anime [or] manga pages:"
"In terms of, like, the villains that we have for 'Beekeeper 2', especially, like, you're gonna be blown away just how ‘genre’ it feels, you know… almost like a, like a, something out of, like an anime, like manga pages, you know"
Following the first film's release, director David Ayer (who could not return for the sequel due to scheduling issues) said he'd hoped to explore more of the "Beekeeper world." The film explores the US intelligence operatives known as Beekeepers, who protect the hive (the USA) from around the world. Ayer told Inverse he wanted to answer questions like "where do they come from?" and "who fixes the Beekeepers when the Beekeepers need fixing?"
“We cracked the door a little bit into the Beekeeper world, and I would love to learn more about them,” the director says. “I’m extremely curious: Where do they come from? Who are they? How do they operate? What happened in the system? Did it break? Did the Beekeepers break? Do we have to fix the Beekeepers? Who fixes the Beekeepers when the Beekeepers need fixing?”
Should Ayer's direction be taken in The Beekeeper 2, this could mean the sequel's villains are within the hive of the Beekeepers themselves, particularly if the second film delves more into the lore of their mysterious operation.
Pom Klementieff and Adam Copeland are no strangers to playing villains on-screen, having played Paris in the Mission: Impossible franchise and Ares in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, respectively. Therefore, these two could be poised to play fearsome foes opposite Jason Statham in the upcoming sequel.
The entire interview with Timo Tjahjanto about Nobody 2 can be seen below:
