The following story contains spoilers for Netflix's Beef.
SOMETIMES, THE smallest things can go the longest way. When we meet Danny (Steven Yeun) at the start of Beef, the dark comedy ride from Netflix and A24, he's returning a number of Hibachi grills to a hardware store (grills bought with the intent of being used to end his own life). This, naturally, gets a lot of the emotional juices going—emotional juices that led him into a rage-fueled car chase that became a neighborhood-alarming road rage incident.
He didn't even know who the other driver—who flipped him off, fully matching his energy through every step of the affair—was. But we did, when we met Amy (Ali Wong). And in meeting Amy after meeting Danny, we see the real set-up and conflict of Beef: two people who come from very different ways of life (Danny is a working class handyman; Amy is a wealthy/soon-to-be hyper wealthy creative) who, at their core, have the same problem. They can't let their ego go. They have to win. They have to finish on top.
Through ten episodes, each ranging between 30 and 35 minutes, Beef takes viewers on a high-tension ride of anger, revenge, laughs, drama, and soul-searching, all soundtracked by some of the best '90s and 2000s songs you can think of. Smashing Pumpkins? Yes please. Tori Amos? Yup.
By the end of the series, you'll have been through the ringer along with Danny and Amy—and be glad you did. But will there be more Beef where that came from?
Season 2 of Beef is likely happening—and it's going to center on two beefing couples played by major stars.
According to a report from Deadline, scripts for a Season 2 of Beef have been turned into Netflix, and the streaming service and A24 are planning to enter production on a second season of Beef later this year. That means that the show would likely be released in mid-late 2025.
But this second go-around isn't going to star Steven Yeun and Ali Wong again—it seems like that story is rightfully being left alone. Instead, the Deadline report says that Season 2 would center on a pair of feuding couples, with one made up of May December star Charles Melton and Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny, while the other will be made of a more-established pair of stars: Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.
The report admits that talks are in the early stages on this, and that nothing is official—but once industry buzz like this goes public, it tends to only be down to clearing schedules and making sure everything is going to line up correctly before it's made officially official.
It's likely that Beef Season 2 would turn the show into a White Lotus or Fargo -style anthology—the seasons don't feature much, if any, crossover, but they follow the same spiritual energy under the show's umbrella, and likely exist within the same "universe."
It's major progress from what we've last heard about Season 2 of Beef.
Season 2 of Beef would've seemed to be extremely unlikely. The 10 episodes of the show's first go-around took both Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong) through a full and complete arc, starting at rage and ending with forgiveness and even a sort of love.
By the end of the season, the story would seem to be completely told, culminating with a final episode that's surprising, and a final shot in that episode (and incredible musical accompaniment) that gives some really great closure.
Series creator Lee Sung Jin previously revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone, however, that he has “three seasons mapped out in [his] head” for the show.
“There are a lot of ideas on my end to keep the story going," he said. "Should we be blessed with a Season 2, there’s a lot of ways for Danny and Amy to continue.”
Another major roadblock could also be the availability of the show's stars; Yeun has been particularly in-demand ever since landing his first Oscar nomination for A24's Minari. Since then, he's worked with Jordan Peele in Nope, Bong Joon-Ho in the upcoming Mickey17 (his second collaboration with the Academy Award-winning Parasite director; he'll star alongside Robert Pattinson), and Love Me, where he'll star alongside Kristen Stewart. He's also recently dropped out of his Marvel role in Thunderbolts (more on that in a little bit) and reportedly taken on a role in Minari director Lee Isaac Chung's next film. There's also his voiceover role in Invincible, which has become an incredibly popular TV phenomenon.
Beef also become a major player in the Awards scene, winning at the Golden Globes, Emmys, and SAG awards for both Yeun and Wong, along with the series itself. It makes perfect sense that with so much acclaim, Netflix wants more Beef—even if the cast, and the show itself, wind up taking new form.
Showrunner Lee Sung Jin, and director Jake Schreier will reunite for Marvel's Thunderbolts.
If you enjoyed Beef, and have any sort of affinity for superheroes or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we have good news: two of the show's key players will be reuniting for Thunderbolts, which is due to hit theaters in July 2024.
Jake Schreier, who directed six of Beef's 10 episodes, was announced in 2022 as the Thunderbolts director. Lee Sung Jin was announced to have taken over writing duties on the script just a week and change before Beef was released into the world.
Steven Yeun was going to be a part of the Thunderbolts ensemble cast (alongside David Harbour, Florence Pugh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Wyatt Russell, and more), but he dropped out of the film following the strike-induced delays of 2023.
This is all to say: Beef fans have something to look forward to, and Marvel fans can be excited that Thunderbolts—a movie about a team-up of the universe's anti-heroes—is in good hands.
