According to the Hollywood Reporter, Netflix's "Narcos" has been renewed for a second season. This came just a few days after the show launched on the streaming network. However, there will be a few changes in the creative department as showrunner Chris Brancato will be stepping down as Adam Fierro takes over.
Brancato will now be handling the biblical series "Of Kings and Prophets" but will still be credited as a series co-creator. Fierro, who previously handled "The Shield," will executive produce alongside Eric Newman and Jose Padilha.
Season 2 will see the return of Wagner Moura as the cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar, Boyd Holbrook as the DEA agent Steve Murphy, and Pedro Pascal as Murphy's partner Javier Peña. Given the cliffhanger ending of season 1, however, it is still uncertain whether Holbrook will be returning as a series regular for season 2 or if he will return only as a guest star for select episodes.
The series focuses on the rise and fall of the Medellin Cartel, particularly of its leader Pablo Escobar, from the 1970s through the early 1990s. By the end of the cartel's run, it was making over $420 million per week, with Pablo Escobar's total net worth at the time rated to be around $3 billion.
Season 1 launched on Netflix on Aug. 28 and is still available for subscribers to binge-watch. Thus far, the series has garnered critical praise and, at the time of writing, has a 76 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Detailing cocaine's rise as a Colombian cash crop and its rapid spread into the U.S. in the late 1980s, the sparely told project weaves together a taut, gripping narrative, in stark contrast with the flatness of its characters and color scheme," praises Variety's critic Brian Lowry.
"All told, this Gaumont production is the kind of binge-worthy TV addiction that Netflix was born to import," Lowry continues.
