The Gray Man premiered on Netflix worldwide on July 22, 2022. The film is based on the book of the same name by Mark Greaney. It was written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Joe Russo and co-written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely and Joe Russo.
The project had been in the works for nine years before Netflix and the Russo brothers picked it up. This movie is almost as good as No Time to Die, which had an even bigger budget of $200 million. It’s the biggest action thriller the streaming service has released this year.
Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans lead an all-star cast in The Gray Man. Gosling could be the face of a possible franchise. Also in the cast are Ana de Armas, Regé-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Billy Bob Thornton, Julia Butter, Dhanush and Alfre Woodard. Ana de Armas also starred in Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film earlier this year.
The Gray Man is an exciting book
The Gray Man was the story of Six, a secret agent whose name had been cleared and who was then trained as a ghost. Agent Fitzroy asked him to join the top-secret CIA project in 2003.
In 2021, a new leader took over the CIA, and Fitzroy was forced to retire. Six was sent on a mission to Bangkok, where he learned of the misbehavior of current squad leader Denny Carmichael. Carmichael had ordered Six to kill Four, another unnamed agent like himself, which Six believed was wrong.
Four gave Six a locket with a thumb drive inside. After that there was a chase full of cat and mouse games and lots of action. Lloyd Hansen, a sociopathic mercenary hired by Carmichael to get the incriminating thumb drive back by any means necessary, was right behind Six.
Six’s mission was to save not only his own life but also that of Claire, Fitzroy’s niece. The latter now took care of the renegade agent like a family member. Dani, who has saved Six more than once, has traveled the world with Six, avoiding waves of men sent by Hansen to get the estate.
You can watch the film on Netflix to see how the Russo brothers, who directed the hugely successful Avengers movies, brought kindness to the big screen.
Will The Gray Man have a follow up?
The Gray Man is based on the book of the same name by Mark Greaney. After the success of his first book, Greaney wrote eight more books in the same series. The last one came out in 2021. So the creators have plenty of material to work with if they decide to make a sequel.
But neither Netflix nor the Russo brothers have officially announced a second part. Joe and Anthony Russo said in an interview with Screen Rant that they were considering making The Gray Man a franchise. Anthony Russo said more:
“Most of what we do here is meant to be part of a story. That’s definitely how we deal with The Gray Man. We have many versions of this story in our heads, and it can be told in many different ways in movies or TV shows.”
Joe Russo also said that when there’s a second movie, people will finally meet The Old Man. In the film, Denny Carmichael did a number of illegal and very dangerous things to get the incriminating USB stick from Six.
In the film, Margaret Cahill said that what he was doing was well above his pay grade and someone had to be pulling his strings. In the film, the old man and some other plots were still a mystery.
It’s still not clear if there will be a second edition of The Gray Man, but the Russo brothers have left hints that there might be.