Tulsa King will soon be back on TV screens for Season 2 and there are already some exciting details to know about the new season.
Sylvester Stallone leads the Paramount+ series as Dwight "The General" Manfredi, a mafia boss who is released from prison and outcast to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he works on building a new crime empire.
Season 1 of Tulsa King hit some viewership highs which ensured a future for the crime drama.
[ Tulsa King Season 2: Release, Cast & Everything We Know ]
Tulsa King Season 2: Confirmed Details
Frank Grillo and Neal McDonough Are Joining Season 2
Tulsa King Season 2 is set to welcome some new players that will rival Stallone's mob boss.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier star Frank Grillo will appear in Season 2 of Tulsa King as Bill Bevilaqua, who is described as (per Deadline) "a Kansas City mobster with interests in Tulsa."
The General will also face challenges in Neal McDonough's new character. The Arrow-verse star is set to play Cal Thresher, a powerful and territorial businessman in Tulsa.
Also set for a recurring role in Season 2 is Rich Ting (Warrior) who will star as another man in Tulsa with ruthless ambitions, Jackie Ming.
The Kansas City Mob Is a Threat in Season 2
One of the biggest threats to The General's operation in Tulsa King's upcoming season will be the Kansas City Mob.
The official synopsis for the season tees up the rival gang as a "looming threat" hoping to "stake their claim" in Tulsa in the new season:
"Dwight and his crew continue to build up and defend their growing empire in Tulsa, but just as they get their bearings, they realize that they’re not the only ones who want to stake their claim. With looming threats from the Kansas City mob and a very powerful local businessman, Dwight struggles to keep his family and crew safe while keeping track of all his affairs. Plus, he still has unfinished business back in New York."
Dwight Is Out of Jail
After being arrested for bribery and thrown into jail (again) in the Season 1 finale of Tulsa King, things weren't looking good for Dwight Manfredi.
However, the show must go on and the Season 2 trailer confirms that after pleading not guilty to his crimes, Dwight isn't behind bars for long.
It seems that, once out of jail, Dwight returns to Tulsa to find plenty of competition, with Grillo and McDonough's businessmen featured being less-than-friendly to Stallone in the trailer.
The trailer also seems to tease growing affections between Dwight and Margaret (Dana Delaney), a wealthy businesswoman and the owner of the Fennario horse ranch.
Tulsa King Season 2 Will Be a Test of Allegiance For Tyson
Outside of Dwight's main mission, Tyson will face some new tensions in Tulsa King Season 2.
The young taxi driver-turned-associate to Dwight's mob boss, Tyson (played by Jay Will) will have his allegiances tested in the new batch of episodes.
Michael Beach, who stars as Tyson's father Mark in Tulsa King, told Screen Rant that "the battle between who Tyson is going to become" would be crucial to the new season:
"The battle between who Tyson is going to become is a big theme in season 2. So the battle between Dwight's character and Mark's character and his son Tyson being right in the middle and which way is he going to go and why? And based on the events that happened throughout the season, you start to see where Tyson starts to go and why."
Tyson's journey thus far in Tulsa King has seen the young man go from being an innocent taxi driver to following Dwight down a path of crime. Naturally, this caused problems between Tyson and Mark, as his father valued honest hard work and disapproved of his son falling into criminal activities.
In Season 2 it seems the fight for Tyson's morality will be a big focus, with the character's two father figures fighting to steer him down their own path.
Tulsa King Season 2 Has a New Showrunner
Tulsa King comes from the mind of Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, however, Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) sat in the showrunner seat for Season 1 of the crime drama.
This has shifted for Season 2, with Winter departing Tulsa King in February 2023 due to "creative differences," according to Deadline. The outlet also noted Winter left to focus on new projects and would remain an executive producer on the series.
In Winter's absence, Deadline reported that Tulsa King did not fill the showrunner role, with a similar, non-traditional, writer's room model being used on Sheridan's other series - that includes Yellowstone and Special Ops: Lioness.
Instead, in February 2024, Winter returned as a head writer and EP on the series after his schedule opened up due to the Writer's Guild Strike in 2023.
In addition to Winter's return, Tulsa King hired Craig Zisk (Weeds) in an executive producer/director role to help oversee the new season.
This turbulent creative journey could have varying results for the quality of Tulsa King Season 2.
While Winter, who helped establish the show as the success it was in Season 1, did ultimately return to help write Season 2, there's no telling how the messy behind-the-scenes politics of the series could impact the new episodes.
Deadline also noted in its report that Tulsa King is now being deemed a comedy, which is supported by the hiring of Zisk, who has a comedy-centric background.
This could signal quite a big tonal shift for the new season of Tulsa King - but it's yet to be seen whether this new direction will be for better or for worse.
Tulsa King Season 2 will premiere on Paramount+ on September 15.
