Marisa Tomei will lead the second season of War, the legal drama from George Kay that is already set as a two-season order from Sky and HBO. Kelly Macdonald and David Harewood will also headline the next run, which shifts the story from a bruising divorce fight to an explosive defamation case.
The casting was confirmed ahead of later this year, when season one of the show is due to debut. In the first installment, the story follows the high-profile divorce case between tech titan Morgan Henderson and international film star Carla Duval, while the series as a whole centers on two of London’s most prestigious rival law firms, Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne.
Tomei will play Avery Reed, Macdonald will play Jo MacNeil and Harewood will play Jefferson Allen. Richard Schiff also joins the cast as Elliott Wyatt, giving the second season a new line-up before the first has even reached viewers.
That timing is the sharp edge here: season two casting has been announced before season one has launched, a sign the project is being pushed as a long-form franchise rather than a one-off drama. War is co-produced by New Pictures and Observtory Pictures, in association with Sky and HBO, and will air on Sky and NOW in the U.K., Ireland and Italy, on Sky and WOW in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and on HBO and HBO Max in the U.S., with HBO Max also carrying it in Australia and Asia.
For Sky and HBO, the bet is clear. The first season has yet to air, but the second is already framed around a bigger courtroom clash, and Tomei is now the face most likely to draw eyes to where the story goes next.
