‘The Old Man’ Season 2: Everything To Know About Jeff Bridges’ Return In The ‘John Wick’-Like Thriller (Update For July 2024)

John Wick, famously, was originally written about a 75-year-old former assassin before Keanu Reeves stepped into the role, and the rest is vengeance-soaked cinematic history. That bit of trivia adds to the act of contemplating FX’s The Old Man, and various relationships in this series also bring into question who the real “old man” of the show’s title really turns out to be. Yet we aren’t here to dwell on that particular wordplay too much but, instead, to talk about what will arrive in the second season.

Jeff Bridges returns in this John Wick-esque story about an ex-CIA operative, Dan Chase, who also digs dogs and has been living off the grid but got pulled out of obscurity by no choice of his own. Soon enough, Dan was on the run and also waving Taken and Reacher vibes for good measure. During first-season production, Bridges suffered enormous health difficulties — including a rough Covid case and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — and still managed to nail his action and stunt choreography (although yes, Bridges did have an ace stuntman doing the heavy lifting). The actor revealed last week that he is “feeling great now,” and he still cannot believe that he filmed the first season with “a 9- by 12-inch tumor in my stomach that didn’t hurt.”

It sounds like the second-season production ran much more smoothly, so let’s get down to business on what to expect.

Plot

With the above sentiments said, this FX show was not born out of a desire to replicate John Wick. Rather, the series is based upon Thomas Perry’s same-named 2017 novel that contains endless layers about Dan Chase’s history and twisting motives of various parties that are not what they seem to be. John Lithgow portrays Dan’s former colleague, FBI agent Harold Harper, who will soon be fully entrenched in Dan’s way of life, for better or worse.

The Old Man became a Dad TV-favorite in 2022 followed by a speedy renewal after spinning into a whirling dervish of intrigue as Dan hopped right back on the horse and pulled his landlord, Zoe (Amy Brenneman), into the danger zone as well. To make matters even more complicated, Dan’s daughter, Emily/Angela (Alia Shawkat), moved from the peripheral to being a key focus of Afghanistan warlord Faraz Hamzad (Pej Vahdat) with identities beginning to fold in on each other. In the second season, her precarious fate sends Dan and Harold on an attempted rescue mission, although there’s no telling who — her captor, her father (and which father?), or both — will or should prevail.

In the below clip, Bridges and executive producer Warren Littlefield chatted with Deadline about whether the Rottweilers will surface in this season, which will also take characters “deep into Afghanistan.”

What is also certain is that Bridges and Lithgow are working extensively together now, which pleased Lithgow to no end. At this month’s Television Critics Association panel for the series, Lithgow gushed (via Hollywood Reporter), “I so wanted to work with Jeff. And there is an abundance of it in the second season. We have such a fantastic time.” To that, co-creator Jonathan E. Steinberg answered, “As much as you guys wanted to work together, we wanted to see you together.” He then added, “And, in a way, it’s driving the show [now]. It’s such a treat to be able to write scenes for these two.”

Bridges, as well, elaborated on how he and Lithgow nurtured their chemistry:

“We’re both second-generation actors and we approach it the same way… There are a lot of actors who say, ‘Please only call me by my character’s name’ or, ‘Let’s not have any contact.’ We’re the opposite of that. Let’s be friends. Let’s get to know each other. Let’s do it quite aggressively!”

The onscreen payoff of that relationship should be a main attraction. From the second season synopsis:

In Season 2 of FX’s The Old Man, former CIA agent “Dan Chase” (Jeff Bridges) and former FBI Assistant Director “Harold Harper” (John Lithgow) set off on their most important mission to date — to recover “Emily Chase” (Alia Shawkat) after she is kidnapped by “Faraz Hamzad” (Navid Negahban), a powerful Afghan tribal leader. With all three men claiming her as their daughter, Emily finds herself in an identity crisis that has dire implications.

Cast

Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow are finally a team as Dan and Harold, respectively. There’s no word of whether Bill Heck will return to portray the younger version of Chase, but the cast is rounded out by Alia Shawkat, Amy Brenneman, Jessica Harper, Pej Vahdat, Joel Grey, Navid Negahban, Kenneth Mitchel, Rowena King, Gbenga Akinnagbe, and Hiam Abbass.

Release Date

FX will bring back the espionage thriller series’ second season on September 12. Two episodes will initially debut with six weekly drops that add up to an eight-episode season.

Trailer

A teaser trailer (that does a very good job at spoiling nothing but generates anticipation) awaits: