The film that proved Bob Odenkirk as an action hero is back with a sequel

If you enjoyed Better Caul Saul and love Bob Odenkirk, then the 2021 action thriller Nobody, which established him as a bankable action hero, ought to have been on your watchlist—now more than ever, because a sequel is forthcoming, and the first set photos are out!

On August 26, 2024, director Timo Tjahjanto indicated the filming had begun for Nobody 2, with on-set photos of the cast and crew, including one with Bob Odenkirk and himself. The sequel will follow the events of the first film.

What is Nobody (2021) about?

It is so satisfying to watch a seemingly ordinary, family guy beat the sh*t out of the bad guys. But Bob Odenkirk’s Hutch Mansell isn’t exactly an ordinary guy. When the film opens, he is battered and bruised, but cool as a cat, sitting for an FBI interrogation, and he gets asked who he is. He tells them he is “nobody.” The whole film is in a flashback to the events that lead him to that FBI interrogation.

Hutch is living the normal family life—a lacklustre marriage with Becca, a teenage son, Blake, and a little daughter, Abby. One night as two thieves break into their house, Hutch doesn’t fight back. Even though they leave without hurting anyone, everyone thinks Hutch a coward for not defending his family. But turns out, Hutch knew their guns were unloaded. He has a dark past; he used to be an ‘auditor’, an assassin working for the United States Intelligence.

When he beats up some goons on a bus harassing a woman and returns home to his wife, who knows of his past, what Hutch doesn’t know is that one of the guys he beat up, Teddy, is the brother of a Russian crime Lord. Yulian soon discovers Hutch’s true identity, and as things go into guns blazing action mode, Hutch has to face off Yulian and his gang of mobsters, which he manages to do with the help of his brother Harry and his retired FBI agent father, David.

It is here that the cops arrive and cart off Hutch for questioning, and as we return to the present, the agents get a phone call and have to let Hutch go. Three months later, as Hutch and his family are settling into their normal life again and buying a new home, he gets a call suggesting something might be wrong. In a post-credit scene, we see Harry and David driving the family car loaded with guns, indicating that we’d probably get a sequel.

Nobody was directed by Ilya Naishuller and written by Derek Kolstad, known for his work on the John Wick franchise. It starred Bob Odenkirk with Connie Nielsen, Aleksey Serebryakov, RZA, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon, Billy McLellan, Gage Monroe, and Paisley Cadorath. Odenkirk and David Leitch were producers. Despite not doing anything extraordinarily different in the genre, the film was quite the box office success owing to the unabashed action and Odenkirk’s performance. It proved that Odenkirk had it in him to be an action star, and that a sequel would be a good idea.

What is Nobody 2 going to be about?

In 2021, Connie Nielsen had said that she would love to return for a sequel that explored how her character Becca and Hutch meet. While no clear plot has yet been specified for the sequel, it will deal with the fallout from the events of the first film and the repercussions it will have on Hutch and his family. The mysterious call that got him released from the FBI could want something in exchange for the favour, perhaps to bring Hutch back into the fold now that he has stepped back into that world. 

Either way, we would still get a new story with flashbacks of how Hutch and Becca meet, as Nielson wanted.

Who has been cast in Nobody 2?

Nobody 2 has a new director in Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto. Writer Derek Kolstad is returning though, alongside Aaron Rabin, Umair Aleem, and Bob Odenkirk to write the film. Odenkirk also returns as producer alongside Mar Provissiero for their Odeknirk Provissiero Entertainment, David Leitch and Kelly McCormick for 87North, and Braden Aftergood for Eighty Two Films.

Cast confirmed to be returning for the sequel include Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, and Christopher Lloyd. As for new cast members joining, so far there have been two major announcements. Sharon Stone had been cast in an undisclosed role. And in early August, it was announced that Colin Hanks had been cast as a corrupt sheriff.

Is there a release date for Nobody 2?

Since the film has only just started shooting, it’s going to be some time before we can jump back into the action. The official release date for Nobody 2 has been set for August 15, 2025, a year from now.