Mr. Mercedes Season 2 Gets Summer 2018 Premiere Date

Critically acclaimed Stephen King adaptation Mr. Mercedes returns to AT&T’s Audience Network for a 10-episode season 2 this summer. While its audience size will probably continue to be limited by the fact that the channel it airs on is only available to customers of DirecTV, DirecTV Now, and AT&T U-Verse, Mr. Mercedes’ first season has to be considered a success. Based on King’s 2014 novel of the same name, Mr. Mercedes earned great reviews, holding an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes.


Actual ratings information for Mr. Mercedes is hard to come by, although it obviously performed well enough in that metric to earn a renewal from Audience Network. With the titular book’s story already adapted, season 2 will reportedly draw inspiration from both of King’s follow-up novels, Finders Keepers and End of Watch. Details on what exactly will be adapted from those books is still being kept under wraps for now though. Returning for season 2 are stars Brendan Gleeson as Detective Bill Hodges, and Harry Treadaway as Brady Hartsfield, the brutal serial killer Hodges is trying to stop from claiming more victims.


Like season 1, Mr. Mercedes season 2 will consist of 10 episodes, and premiere during the summer. This time out though, the premiere will come slightly later, as Deadline reports that season 2 will debut on August 22. Season 1 premiered on August 9, 2017. This sets up season 2 to end right around Halloween, an appropriate time period for any Stephen King-based project to wrap up.


In addition to Gleeson and Treadaway returning in front of the camera, the Hollywood heavyweights who guided the creative side of Mr. Mercedes season 1 are also coming back for season 2. Showrunner David E. Kelley is once again in charge, while Jack Bender will return to direct. It’s unknown at present how many episodes Bender will direct this time out, after helming 7 of season 1’s installments. Kelley has of course created and produced multiple hit shows, including HBO’s recent success Big Little Lies. Bender has directed episodes of shows like Lost, Game of Thrones, and The Sopranos, as well as fellow King adaptation Under the Dome.


Interestingly enough, Mr. Mercedes won’t be the only Stephen King-based series hitting the air this summer, as Hulu’s upcoming Castle Rock is also expected to arrive in mid-2018, although an exact date has yet to be assigned. Unlike Mr. Mercedes, Castle Rock isn’t an adaptation of any one King work, and instead tells an original tale set within the author’s established multiverse. Amazon is also currently developing a Dark Tower TV show, one which will hopefully help King fans get over last year’s disastrous film version. For Stephen King devotees, 2018 will be another exciting year.