Alan Ritchson’s War Machine 2 Lands Major Sequel Update At Netflix

File this under: sequels that may already be halfway outlined. Alan Ritchson is talking like his new Netflix action flick, War Machine, is just the opening salvo.

Sequel talk has already started

Asked where the story could go next, Ritchson did not play coy. He says there is plenty of material on deck for a follow-up to the film, where he plays a hardened drill sergeant known only as 81. In his words:

'Tons. Let me say it for him, tons.'

He also teased the scale of what a second round might look like:

'War Machines is going to be sick. The whole thing, we got a whole thing.'

Hughes has been roadmapping from the jump

Director Patrick Hughes says he built War Machine as a complete, standalone story, but he was sketching future directions while he wrote it. That quiet worldbuilding paid off; he already has a rough outline for where 81 could head next if Netflix gives the go-ahead. Translation: they are not scrambling for ideas.

The 81 of it all

One of the film's deliberate choices is also its biggest hook: Ritchson's character is identified only by the number 81, with almost no backstory spelled out by the end. Ritchson hints there are answers on the corkboard, but he is keeping them locked up for now, joking:

'We know. We're not going to say, you got to stick around for the eight sequels.'

Old-school DNA in a modern actioner

Hughes points to classic Western storytelling as a key influence for 81: the mysterious wanderer who rolls into trouble, does what needs doing, and rolls out again. Or, as he puts it:

'I mean, it's the man with no name. And I really love that story form.'

Where things stand

• Ritchson says there is 'tons' of material ready for a sequel and teases a bigger, nastier round two.
• Hughes wrote the first as a contained story but mapped possible sequels from the start; he already has a rough outline for 81's next chapter.
• 81's identity and background stay intentionally vague in the first movie, with the promise of more down the line.
• The character draws from the classic Western drifter archetype, with nods to Pale Rider and the 'man with no name' lineage.
• It all comes down to Netflix making the call on a green light.