Mobland has had a funny old year – with rumours of behind-the-scenes fallings-out circulating and stories about Tom Hardy walking away from the show seemingly ending up debunked. Whatever truth there may have been to some of those reports, the show's second season just got its first teaser trailer, confirming that it'll be on Paramount+ from 18 September.
The teaser goes out of its way to confirm that all the main cast members from last season are back (or, at least, the ones whose characters didn't die), including Hardy himself and both Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, who play his bosses, a fearsome older crime duo. From my point of view, there's also one major addition to the cast that makes the show extremely interesting.
That addition is Johnny Flynn, the singer-songwriter who turned his hand to acting a good few years ago, and showed that he's pretty much equally good at both crafts (which is no small feat). He's joining the cast in a role that hasn't yet been detailed at all – although some reports seem to have become confused by Flynn's credit in the 2017 movie Beast.
That's not the name of his character this time around, to be clear – although there's a tiny chance it could be both. IMDb lists the character as "Frankie", though, so that's the likeliest outcome. Either way, I'm a big fan of Flynn's work (in particular in Emma), and he's increasingly demonstrating his range. Giving him a chance to go up against Hardy as a rival mob fixer could be just the opportunity he needs to get even more plaudits.
I didn't actually catch the first season of Mobland, either, so I'd have to drop back and catch up on it, although I know that my colleague Mike Lowe made a big case for Paramount+ back when that first season was coming out. Perhaps the show's second season will give the whole streaming service a bump.
After all, that's the whole point of showstopping series like Mobland for the platforms that make them. The real key, though, is in making good casting calls like the addition of Flynn – let's see who else it can tempt to the show with such decisions.
