Stephen King Still Believes One Of His TV Adaptations Deserved A Season 2 Nearly 4 Years After HBO Cancelled It

Summary Stephen King still believes The Outsider should have receieved a season 2.

Author Linwood Barclay praised the show, saying it, "SO deserved a second season."

King replied "Yes. It did."

While a season 2 seems unlikely at this point, King's continued support means anything is possible.

Stephen King believes the TV adaptation of his novel The Outsider was canceled too soon by HBO and should have received a season 2. King's novel was published in 2018, and the HBO adaptation debuted in 2020. It followed a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator as they dealt with the supernatural forces surrounding the murder of a young boy. The TV show starred Ben Mendelsohn, Bill Camp, Paddy Considine, and Jason Bateman. After a 10-epsiode run, The Outsider was canceled by HBO.

On X, author Linwood Barclay commended The Outsider adaption, saying it "SO deserved a second season." King agreed with him in a quote tweet, which can be seen below:

King's simple response of "Yes. It did." shows the faith he had in the adaptation of his material.

Related Every Upcoming Stephen King Movie There are many more upcoming Stephen King movie adaptations that are currently in development, some of which are expected for a 2024 or 2025 release.

Will The Outsider Season 2 Happen?

It's worth noting that King initially believed The Outsider season 2 would happen. In October 2020, he stated, "There's going to be a second season of The Outsider as soon as they can get the production going," revealing he had seen some of the scripts. It is unclear the story direction season 2 might have taken, but King stated the scripts were "really great" and had "a real spooky paranormal element.” There were several differences between The Outsider book and the show, but these were clearly changes King supported as he still believes the show had the scope to span another season.

TV adaptations of novels can be a mixed bag, and liberties need to be taken with certain narrative aspects that don't always translate well from book to screen. There is also the need to flesh particular elements out to make for a more captivating and well-paced story for TV viewers. This is something a lot of show adaptations struggle with and could have played a role in HBO's decision to cancel. While it feels unlikely that The Outsider season 2 will materialize at this stage, anything is possible, particularly with King's continued support.

HBO has a strong track record of making compelling and engaging TV, and it helps that the company maintains a relationship with the author today. Another Stephen King TV adaptation, the IT prequel Welcome to Derry, is in the works at Max. While that show's existence doesn't necessarily make The Outsider season 2 more likely, it doesn't hurt.

Source: Stephen King, Linwood Barclay