Prime Video's new series Butterfly is a must-watch for fans of action-packed spy thrillers, intimate family dramas, and K-drama actors making their Hollywood debuts. Starring and executive-produced by Daniel Dae Kim, the graphic novel adaptation follows David Jung (Kim), a former CIA operative who goes to extreme lengths to reunite with his estranged daughter Rebecca (It's What's Inside's Reina Hardesty). Said daughter is now a skilled assassin for a covert organization named Caddis, led by a woman (played by Piper Perabo) who has her own heavy history with David.
The spy drama, which premiered all six episodes on August 13, concludes with a shocking scene that leaves viewers wondering what the father-daughter spy duo could be facing in a future installment. Below, read on for everything we know about Butterfly season 2 so far.
Has 'Butterfly' been renewed for season 2?
Prime Video has yet to reveal whether Butterfly will return for a second season, but it's still early days for the spy thriller. Streamers tend to wait several weeks for viewership numbers before making a renewal decision, so we'll have to wait for news over the next month or so.
In a bit of good news for fans, the series has remained in the streamer's Top 10 for its first week out, alongside The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3.
When would 'Butterfly' season 2 be released?
While we'll have to wait for a renewal announcement, we can look back at the season 1 filming timeline to estimate how long it could take for season 2 to arrive. The first installment of Butterfly began filming in February 2024 in South Korea and ended in July, before arriving on Prime Video a little over a year later.
The series's return would also depend on all the actors's schedules, and Daniel Dae Kim is currently filming season 3 of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender. Knowing all this, there's a good chance that new episodes of Butterfly wouldn't come out until 2027.
Which of the cast members would return for 'Butterfly' season 2?
Despite the high body count from season 1, most of Butterfly's main cast is likely to return for a second season. This includes Daniel Dae Kim (David Jung), Reina Hardesty (Rebecca), Piper Perabo (Juno), Louis Lando (Oliver), Sean Dulake (Hollis), Nayoon Kim (Minhee Jung), and Charles Parnell (Senator George Dawson).
Meanwhile, the fates of many of the K-drama actors in the cast are up in the air, including Kim Tae-hee (Eunju Kim), Sung Dong-il (Doo Tae Kim), Lee Il-hwa (Young Sil Kim), Kim Ji-hoon (Gun), Park Hae-soo (Yong Shik Choi). To discuss them, we'll have to get into spoiler territory.
What would 'Butterfly' season 2 be about?
Spoilers for the Butterfly finale ahead. Like any good thriller, Butterfly's finale ends with a major cliffhanger. After David and Rebecca succeed in dismantling Caddis, they reunite with David's wife Eunju and their daughter Minhee, and have a family dinner. In the final scene, after Eunju and Rebecca go to the bathroom together, David discovers that Eunju has been shot, and Rebecca is nowhere to be found. (As of the end of season 1, Eunju is severely hurt but seemingly still alive.)
The big lingering question is whether Rebecca is the one who shot her new stepmom, as well as whether she fled willingly or was kidnapped. Throughout the first season, the extent of Rebecca's psychopathic tendencies is constantly in question, as well as her loyalty to her mother figure, Juno. After all, Rebecca got David to spare Juno's life, and a couple of days of whirlwind spy adventures likely weren't enough for Rebecca to completely shift her trust to her long-lost dad. Their strained relationship is the heart of the show, so her betrayal could power another season.
The other, and more interesting option, is if the attack on Eunju is related to her mysterious father. In the handful of excellent scenes with the elder Kims, all we learn is that Doo Tae is very intimidating, has a small army (or enough money to fund one) at his disposal, and is the type of man that you don't want to owe a favor. It's hard to imagine him having his own daughter shot, but David already had reason to be wary of his father-in-law even before Eunju got shot. There are several places the next season could go with Doo Tae as either the main antagonist (maybe paired with Juno), or a slippery, quick-to-double-cross ally against a whole new Big Bad.
Also, speaking for K-drama fans, hopefully Butterfly season 2 will add more Korean actors in new supporting roles, since neither Gun nor Yong Shik made it out of season 1 alive.
What has the cast and crew said about 'Butterfly' season 2?
Since the show's debut, Daniel Dae Kim has been very vocal about his hopes for a Butterfly season 2. When asked about what comes next after Eunju's attack, he told TVInsider, "What can I tease about it? Well, I’ll say that the ramifications of that event lead to some serious soul searching and in some cases, changes of personality."
He added, "I hope there is a second season, first of all. But what I like about the show is that we’re already establishing that it’s an international show. So it makes the world our oyster. We could go anywhere. And given the nature of what David and Rebecca do, you could see them traveling. You could see them settling somewhere else. That’s kind of the goal at the start of season 1. So we’ll see."
Meanwhile, Reina Hardesty shared her hopes that Rebecca will explore a whole new path (and maybe get some professional help).
"I think for Rebecca in season 1, you’re seeing her being pulled between two worlds and deciding whether or not to kind of please her father or be good or please Juno," she told the outlet. "And it would be really nice to see Rebecca decide what she actually wants, instead of coming from this place and needing to be loved and really sit with herself and meet herself and process these feelings. I’m really interested to see who she would be without her reactive tendencies. So essentially, therapy for Rebecca would be interesting."
