When Gangs Of London made its blood-soaked debut in 2020, it made an impact for several reasons. As well as its hooky warring-gangsters plot, it was studded with some the wildest, what-the-hell-did-I-just-witness fight scenes ever put on the small screen – no surprise, given that it was co-created by The Raid director Gareth Evans. This time, Corin Hardy (who directed several episodes of the first season) is stepping up to lead Season 2 – and if you thought that him taking over from Evans might mean a downturn in the shocking violence, painful smackdowns and lashings of red-stuff that are the show’s action signature, you’re wrong. Dead wrong.
“I love blood,” laughs Hardy in Empire’s new issue, talking through what’s to come in Gangs Season 2. “Blood is such an important colour to use in the canvas of action. You get this immediate reaction when you see it.” Hardy knows a thing or two about blood, as the filmmaker behind horror hits The Hallow and The Nun. But if he’s mostly known for scares, he’s an action expert too – and by the sounds of things, he’s outdone himself here. “Some of this stuff, you plan it, you choreograph it, you storyboard it, pre-viz it, shoot it with stuntmen and actors, edit it, and by the time you’ve got your final sequence, only then do you see what you’ve made,” he says. “And I sat back and watched it and thought, ‘I’ve gone too far this time.”
Picking up the reins from Evans was no mean feat, though. “It’s been a daunting and very exciting challenge, because Gareth is the best action filmmaker in the world, probably,” says Hardy. “But I have always loved action and genre, and wanted to put my stamp on it.” Or, from what we’re promised here, a stomp on it – right to the face.
Read Empire’s full Gangs Of London Season 2 story in the House Of The Dragon issue – on sale Thursday 4 August and available to pre-order now online here.