Prime Video's Butterfly arrived in August 2025 and quickly became 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 six-episode spy drama concludes with a shocking scene that leaves viewers wondering what the father-daughter spy duo could face in a future installment. Below, read on for everything we know about whether Butterfly will return for season 2.
Has 'Butterfly' been renewed for season 2?
No. Unfortunately, Prime Video canceled Butterfly and confirmed it won't return for a season 2 in October, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The news was announced about two months after the series premiered and spent two weeks in Nielsen's top 10 streaming charts, per THR.
At this time, it's unclear why exactly the show won't be coming back. The stars had been vocal about wanting to do more episodes (more on that below), but renewal decisions typically come from the network.
It wasn't the only series canceled by the streamer either: The procedural Countdown was also axed in October. It's hard to say what could have led to the decision, but in recent months, Prime Video has been investing a great deal in its YA-leaning content (The Summer I Turned Pretty, We Were Liars, etc.), so perhaps it's continuing to invest in that direction.
Which of the cast members would have returned for 'Butterfly' season 2?
Despite the high body count from season 1, most of Butterfly's main cast would have likely returned 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).
However, the fates of many of the K-drama actors in the cast were 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), and Park Hae-soo (Yong Shik Choi).
What would 'Butterfly' season 2 have been 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. (At the end of season 1, Eunju is severely hurt but seemingly still alive.)
The big lingering question was 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 have powered another season.
The other option would have been if the attack on Eunju was 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 have gone 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.
What did the cast and crew say about 'Butterfly' season 2?
When the show debuted, Daniel Dae Kim was very vocal about his hopes for a Butterfly season 2. When asked about what could come 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."
We wish we could've seen that direction for Rebecca—and another chapter for all of the characters! Until then, at least there are countless other K-dramas worth streaming.
