‘The Deuce’ Spoilers: Which Characters Are Confirmed To Return For Season 2?

“The Deuce” creators George Pelecanos and David Simon revealed that not all characters introduced in Season 1 of the HBO series will be returning for Season 2, as there will be a seven-year time jump between the end of the show’s first season and the start of its sophomore run.

“Not every character will continue … obviously. That’s a lot of years,” Simon told Uproxx. “It would be very unique for the entire world to journey through that stretch of time. But some characters clearly will. We’re responsible for credibly depicting the passage of time in these people’s lives. Where we left them and where we pick them up, and why that makes complete sense if you’re a viewer, in ways that have to be clever and direct and yet nuanced, and we have to justify those choices.”

As expected, lead characters Candy (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Vincent (James Franco) are returning next season. Vincent’s twin brother Frankie (also played by Franco) will also come back, and according to Pelecanos, the easy-go-lucky Martino brother will go through a major development in Season 2.

“Our goal is to make Frankie a little deeper,” Pelecanos told Uproxx. “David and I read the comments, and we know that some people say that he’s just turning into comic relief. It’s easy to do that because it’s a fun character, but we want to give him more depth, too. Hopefully, in Season 2, you’re going to see more dimensions to him. The real story of this guy is that he did go to some dark places. I think that’s where we’re going to take him.”

Porn director Harvey (David Krumholtz) will also be back next season. Pelecanos said that the role was supposed to be a small one, but because there’s a great chemistry between Krumholtz and Gyllenhaal, Harvey’s role got bigger. “He’ll be back, because he’s really good,” Pelecanos said of Krumholtz.

Paul (Chris Coy) is also returning with a much bigger storyline. “We’re going to go downtown with it, where he’s got a point of view,” Pelecanos revealed. “It takes us to the Village and the downtown gay scene. And when we get to the third season, we will get to when AIDS came to New York.”

In an interview with Collider, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. confirmed that he’s reprising his role as Chris Alston next season. When asked what fans can expect from his character in Season 2, the actor said: “I know that Chris moves up the ranks, but I don’t know what he gives up or sacrifices to get there. We’ll see where we go.”

As previously reported, Simon and Pelecanos have a three-season plan for the series. “From the beginning, the plan was to cover 14 years,” Franco told Collider. “The first season is ‘71-‘72, and the dawn of pornography. The second season is ‘77, ‘78 and ‘79, or somewhere in there. And then, the third season will be ‘84-‘85 when everything imploded and the old [New York’s] 42nd Street was shut down by Mayor [Edward Irving] Koch. I think if we pull it off, it will be a really nice encapsulation of a time and a place.”

“The Deuce” Season 2 is expected to premiere sometime next year.