'Beef' Season 2: Everything We Know
The hit Netflix dramedy will continue as an anthology—and has assembled an A-list cast for the next installment.
Sadie Bell
Chances are, in April 2023, at least one of your friends texted you to gush over how you should watch the Netflix hit Beef (and if not, you were that friend!). The Netflix/A24 dramedy created by Lee Sung Jin centered on a road rage incident that escalated into a fierce mutual obsession between contractor Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) and entrepreneur Amy Lau (Ali Wong). Despite how simple that premise sounds, this must-watch show barreled through a surprising plot, as Danny and Amy's feud (a.k.a. the titular "beef") affected every corner of their lives with dire emotional, financial, and familial consequences.
The heartbreaking and hilarious series received widespread acclaim from critics and viewers, and went on to win eight Emmys, including Wong becoming the first woman of Asian descent to win an Emmy for a lead role. So, it was no surprise when Netflix announced that the former limited series would continue as an anthology. Now that the series is finally returning to our screens, read on for everything we know about Beef season 2.
A first-look image of the new leads Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan in Beef season 2.
Has 'Beef' been renewed for season 2?
Yes! After a year and a half of rumors (and a Hollywood strike), Netflix finally confirmed Beef season 2 on October 22, 2024. As speculated, the former limited series has gotten the White Lotus treatment and is now an anthology series with an entirely new cast. However, creator Lee Sung Jin signed on to return as showrunner and executive producer.
Beef season 2 will follow a conflict that emerges between two couples, with Charles Melton playing one-half of the younger pair.
When will 'Beef' season 2 come out?
After three years of anticipation, Netflix has finally announced that Beef season 2 will premiere on Thursday, April 16, 2026. (The day after Tax Day, in some perfect timing.)
According to the streaming giant, season 2 will consist of eight 30-minute episodes, two fewer than the show's first installment.
For season 2, Beef assembled another A-list cast.
Who is in the cast of 'Beef' season 2?
Four Hollywood superstars will lead the cast of Beef season 2: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny. The streamer hasn't given many details about their characters, but here is a brief logline for the season: "A young couple witnesses an alarming fight between their boss and his wife, triggering a chess-like sequence of favors and coercion, within the elitist world of a country club owned by a Korean billionaire."
Though there still isn't much to go off, when Netflix dropped first-look photos of the season—which you can see throughout this post—the captions confirmed the characters's names. Isaac and Mulligan will portray the married couple Josh Martin and Lindsay Crane-Martin, while Melton's playing a young man named Austin Davis and Spaeny's role is named Ashley Miller.
Several Korean superstars also lead the ensemble, including Song Kang-ho and Youn Yuh-jung.
In December 2024, the streamer also announced that it recruited a pair of international superstars from South Korea in notable roles. Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung will appear in the new season in an undisclosed role, in her first collaboration with A24 since Minari.
Meanwhile, Parasite star Song Kang-ho—the first South Korean male actor to win Best Actor at Cannes for his performance in Broker—will appear in a guest-star role. It's yet to be confirmed who he and Youn be playing, but we'd guess they have ties to the country club owned by a Korean billionaire, as mentioned by the official season logline.
Rounding out Beef season 2's supporting cast are Butterfly actress Seoyeon Jang, Talamasca: The Secret Order's William Fichtner, Superman and One Piece's Mikaela Hoover, and L.A.-born K-pop rapper and KARD member, BM.
We can assume that much of the season 2 drama will unfold at a country club.
What will 'Beef' season 2 be about?
Beef season 1 stands on its own as an excellent limited series. Amy and Danny's feud concludes in the final episode, with the two coming to an understanding while they're stranded in the desert. Thanks to a hallucinogenic-berry-fueled trip, they finally look past their differences and share their respective lifelong feelings of self-loathing and misery. When they make it back to civilization the next morning, having become extremely close, Amy's husband, George (Joseph Lee), finds them and shoots Danny, thinking that he's hurting Amy. The finale ends with Amy waiting by Danny's hospital bed to see if he pulls through.
Though season 1 is a close-ended story, creator and showrunner Lee Sung-jin revealed in a red-carpet interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he initially conceived the show as a "limited anthology series" following different beefs, so it's possible he always had a good idea of where season 2 would go.
Melton and Cailee Spaeny's characters Austin and Ashley seem to work at the country club where the conflict in season 2 likely unfolds.
Lee elaborated in a 2023 ELLE interview, explaining that his initial pitch for the show included "multiple other beefs and other character types to explore." He also confirmed that the show wouldn't be circling back to Danny and Amy's story in any way, saying, "Cards on the table, we did pitch this show as a limited anthology, so there is sort of a close-ended-ness to the story...By design, though, this [is] a close-ended narrative."
Nevertheless, the new "beef" sounds just as enticing. We'll have to wait and see which—likely just as chaotic—direction the series will go!
