Gangster series MobLand has been renewed for a second season by Paramount+, despite the programme receiving mixed reviews from viewers and critics alike.
Written by Guy Ritchie and Top Boy writer Ronan Bennett, MobLand boasted an all-star cast including Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, and quickly became Paramount+’s second most watched programme, trailing behind only Taylor Sheridan’s Landman.
According to the streaming service, MobLand was viewed 26 million times globally in the 70 days following its premiere. However, many viewers complained about both Brosnan and Mirren’s Irish accents and the show’s writing towards the first season’s conclusion, with calls for it to be axed.
Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global CEO and president of MTV Entertainment, confirmed the commission of MobLand’s second series, noting the show’s huge streaming success.
“MobLand has become a resounding triumph – driven by the creative brilliance of Guy, Jez, Ronan and David Glasser, and brought to life by the powerhouse performances of Tom, Pierce, and Helen,” he said.
“We are elated to greenlight a second season of this global phenomenon, which has dominated both domestic and international charts and soared to number one in the UK.”
The series’ “ridiculous” accents were only part of the problem for many critics who disliked MobLand.
In The Independent’s two-star review of the programme, Ed Power wrote: “Brosnan sounds like a leprechaun who has swapped his lucky charms for a crock of ketamine.”
Power added: “Sadly, MobLand is just another tale of unpleasant people doing nasty things and is criminally short of the swagger and irreverence that have long been Ritchie’s hallmarks.
“MobLand finds the director doing something he has never previously attempted: trying our patience.”
In a shocking twist, MobLand’s season one finale saw Hardy’s character Harry stabbed in the chest by his loyal wife Jan (Joanne Froggatt) while chopping carrots in the kitchen.
However, fans of the show have posited that the series’ renewal indicates Harry wasn’t killed in the altercation and Hardy will return for season two.
“I feel like what followed after the stabbing was kind of a wink that nothing is going to happen to him,” one viewer wrote on X/Twitter.
“Harry is definitely the cherry on top of the cake and the showrunners are not oblivious to that… If the show has a season 2, Harry will be in there.”
