Back in January 2020, HBO premiered the shadow-filled first episode of The Outsider, a grim adaptation of Stephen King’s 2018 crime novel of the same name. In the beginning, the show-which came from executive producers Richard Price (The Night Of) and Jason Bateman (Ozark), who also played a key supporting role-played more like a straight-forward police procedural than your typical King-inspired fright-fest. But over time, particularly once Cynthia Erivo’s supernaturally gifted investigator Holly Gibney appeared, the series found its footing as a dark blend of a traditional cop show and a “good vs. evil” horror drama. 

Though many of the loose ends were tied up in the finale, there was still plenty of room for the show to continue. Originally announced as a miniseries, The Outsider looked like a case where the creative team could decide to do another season, following the same path as recent HBO favorites like Big Little Lies and The Young Pope. But will that actually happen? We might not have psychic powers, but we’re on the case.

Will there be a Season 2 of The Outsider?

Earlier this year, it looked like The Outsider would return for a second season. In January, writer Richard Price spoke to IndieWire and indicated that he was already working on Season 2. “It’s like pulling a rabbit out of a glass hat-of course there will be another [if HBO wants one],” he said. “There’s no such thing as a series that, if it does well, they’re not going to want a second season.”

The Outsider was a ratings success, pulling in 2.2 million viewers for the finale, and managed to grow its audience from the premiere. But on November 10, Deadline reported that HBO would not be moving forward with a second season. That means MRC, the production company behind the show, can now take the show “out to market” and look for a home at another premium network or streaming service.

Before the announcement that HBO was passing on Season 2, Stephen King sounded confident that the show would get a second season. In a wide-ranging interview from October with Entertainment Weekly, the novelist praised Erivo’s “terrific” performance as Gibney and said, “there’s going to be a second season of The Outsider as soon as they can get the production going.” 

When willThe Outsider Season 2 premiere? 

If The Outsider finds a new home-there are probably a handful of streaming sites looking for shows with loyal audiences-it’s unclear when the second season could premiere. (In the Deadline article about HBO passing on Season 2, the writer notes that MRC, the production company behind The Outsider, has a “longstanding relationship” with Netflix.) Given the turnaround at HBO and the ongoing shutdowns caused by the pandemic, it’s unlikely that the show would be back in the first half of 2021.

Who’s returning for The Outsider Season 2?

It’s all up in the air at this point. According to Deadline, the second season of The Outsider was going to focus on Erivo’s Holly Gibney, so the Oscar-nominated actress would have to return. Back in August, Deadline reported that Erivo had signed a first-look deal with The Outsider production company MRC, working to “develop and produce television projects through her newly formed production company, Edith’s Daughter.” She’s also currently scheduled to appear as Aretha Franklin in the third season of National Geographic’s Genius, which resumed filming earlier this fall after pausing production because of the pandemic. 

As for the rest of the cast, it’s hard to say who would necessarily be back. Given the procedural nature of the show, it’s entirely possible the second season could be built around a new case, and that Ben Mendelsohn’s Detective Ralph Anderson would not be featured. Though Jason Bateman would likely return as a producer, and possibly as a director, his character, youth baseball coach Terry Maitland, died early on in the series, so it’s unlikely that he’d be back. 

What’s the plot of The Outsider Season 2?

The Outsider used up the plot of the Stephen King book it’s based on, so it’s likely that the second season would put the Gibney character at the center of a new mystery. The ending of the Season 1 finale featured a mid-credits scene where Gibney was visited by a ghost. Viewers were also shown a scratch on her arm, indicating that she might be under the sway of the villain El Cuco-or some other demonic force. It might be a jumping-off point for a new case. 

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, King said he had seen some of the scripts for the second season and that they were “really great” and had “a real spooky paranormal element.”
 
If you can’t get enough Holly Gibney, there’s plenty of King stories featuring the character. The paranormal investigator was first introduced in King’s Bill Hodges trilogy of novels, which were adapted into the series Mr. Mercedes. The show aired for three seasons on the Audience Network, where she was played by the actress Justine Lupe, and all three seasons are currently available to stream on Peacock. King also recently revisited the character in a novella in his recent collection If It Bleeds, which came out in April 2020. Given his clear fondness for the character, another Gibney mystery could be on the horizon. Need help finding something to watch? Sign up here for our weekly Streamail newsletter to get streaming recommendations delivered straight to your inbox.