The Day Of The Jackal Season 2: Everything We Know So Far

British spy thriller series "The Day of the Jackal" really hit the mark upon its debut in 2024, scoring solid reviews from critics and audiences alike. The show features Eddie Redmayne as the sharpshooting and mysterious assassin known as the Jackal, who struggles to find a work-life balance between spending time with his wife, Nuria (Úrsula Corberó), and his freelance escapades of putting bullets through his targets' heads.

The first season of the show sees him engaging in a cat-and-mouse game with MI6 officer Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch), who wants to bring him to justice for his many, many crimes. It concluded on a shocking note that changed the dynamic of the series and left viewers hungry for more. For everyone who has been watching the best shows like "The Days of the Jackal" to fill the void, the good news is that it's set to return for more action and thrills.

In a Sky TV social media post, Redmayne confirmed that another outing as the character was on the horizon for him, adding, "If there's one thing that the Jackal can't stand, it's a loose end." But will the second season take cues from Frederick Forsyth's 1971 novel of the same name? And who will be involved in the sophomore outing? Here's everything we know about "The Day of the Jackal" Season 2 so far.

Ronan Bennett served as the showrunner and head writer for the first season of "The Day of the Jackal." He has quite the resume, having been the creator and driving force behind renowned shows like "Top Boy" and "MobLand," while also having co-written the script for Michael Mann's "Public Enemies." He's quite the expert in the thriller genre, but Bennett won't be contributing as much for "The Day of the Jackal" Season 2, as exclusively confirmed by Variety. Instead, he will serve as an executive producer, having passed on the head writing baton to David Harrower.

Bennett's replacement is known for his work as a playwright as well as being the co-creator of the excellent drama series "Lockerbie: A Search for Truth," which stars Colin Firth. This change might be music to some people's ears. Despite the series earning Emmy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations, not everybody thought the show nailed the landing. Looper's review of "The Day of the Jackal" Season 1 praised the beginning of the series but stated it went off the rails as it wore on. A shake-up in the creative department to freshen things up going into Season 2 could be just what the doctor ordered.

The Jackal leaves plenty of bodies in his wake in "The Day of the Jackal" Season 1, so there are a lot of open spots on the roster for Season 2. As revealed by Deadline, Matt Bomer has hopped onboard for the second season, and he's said to be playing a villain. Bomer isn't a newcomer to the world of TV: He's plied his trade in well-known series such as "White Collar," "American Horror Story," and "Doom Patrol."

Bomer isn't the only new cast member added for "The Days of the Jackal" Season 2. He's also joined by Pablo Schreiber and Weruche Opia, both of whom will be familiar to TV fans. Schreiber is best known for the roles of inmate turned corrections officer George Mendez in "Orange Is the New Black" and Master Chief in the "Halo" series, while Opia is known for memorable roles in "Bad Education" and "I May Destroy You."

"The Day of the Jackal" is based on the book of the same name by Frederick Forsyth as well as the 1973 film adaptation. However, the first season of the show might have more in common with the 1997 film "The Jackal" starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, which is a movie remake that's way different from the original and deviates heavily from the source material. That's because, for many fans of Forsyth, "The Day of the Jackal" Season 1 strayed too far from the book, especially in terms of how it humanizes the Jackal. "Even the Bruce Willis version got that right, or at the very least more right than this," one Redditor bemoaned. "It demystifies the character for me to such an extent that this will render the show unrewatchable."

Production company Carnival Films has admitted that there are lots of differences between the show and book. CEO and executive producer of the show Gareth Neame told Variety that "The Day of the Jackal" borrowed more from the very rewatchable '70s movie adaptation than it did the original story, though they were sure to maintain that "same dynamic between the hunter and the hunted." Whether it's due to fans of the book being disgruntled or not, Neame confirmed to the Hollywood trade that Season 2 would implement "lots of elements from [Forsyth's] novel that we didn't utilize in Season 1."

"The Day of the Jackal" Season 1 isn't short on action and thrills. There are intriguing subplots and pulsating sequences that get the heart pumping faster, and these are the parts of the show that excite fans the most (there are even YouTube compilations featuring the Jackal's best hits). The producers have been paying attention to what viewers have said about the series, and they're going to provide more of the same in the sophomore season.

"We've been tracking how the show's run and what people enjoy, and I think the premise of the assassin, how he works, who he works for, who employs his services, how he carries out his missions, people seem to be very drawn to that," Carnival Films CEO and executive producer Gareth Neame told TV Insider, "and I guess we'll continue in that vein." That will come as welcome news to viewers who tuned into "The Day of the Jackal" Season 1 for the intrigue and assassinations.

There's no disputing that the Jackal receives more of a backstory in "The Day of the Jackal" than he did in previous versions of the tale, where he's been portrayed as something of an enigma. In fact, viewers even know that his real name is Alexander Duggan (which is one of the fake names he uses in the book) and that he has a family, which complicates matters for him further since it creates vulnerability and personal attachment. All of this sets the stage for a more ambitious story in Season 2.

In an interview with The Wrap in 2025, Eddie Redmayne confirmed that the way in which the character's arc concludes at the end of Season 1 will play into his motivations for what's to come, praising how "the ambition seems to have inflated" for the second season and adding that he can't wait to get started. Even though viewers have already found out so much about the Jackal, the actor declared that there's still much more to uncover about the character. "I think we've only scratched the surface of him," he said.