Michael Fassbender returns for a new streaming spy action thriller that’s been dubbed “the American James Bond,” and audiences cannot get enough. The series, which has now returned for a second season and follows a CIA agent forced back into a world of violence and romance after his former lover mysteriously reappears, has quickly shot up the streaming charts with audiences eager to return for what’s proven to be a vastly improved Season 2.
Created by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth and featuring an all-star cast that includes Michael Fassbender alongside Jeffrey Wright (The Batman), Jodie Turner-Smith (Tron: Ares), Katherine Waterston (Alien: Covenant), and Richard Gere (Pretty Woman, The Jackal), the spy thriller series takes the espionage escapades and seductive nature of 007, adds some Jason Bourne-esque intensity, before grounding everything with a hefty dose of Slow Horses and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s methodical slow-burn pacing.
A Deadly Game of International Intrigue & Espionage
In The Agency, Michael Fassbender plays “Martian,” a covert CIA agent ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London. But when the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites, putting his career, his real identity, and his mission in jeopardy and hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage.
Coming courtesy of 
Paramount+ with Showtime, the first season garnered a massive 5.1M global viewers on streaming and linear after its debut at the end of 2024, with the studio calling it “Showtime’s most-streamed new series in history.” And it seems The Agency Season 2, which landed on Paramount+ earlier this month, is looking to match this success after finding itself confidently climbing the charts.
The Agency is now giving franchise frontman Taylor Sheridan a fight as it shoots past the likes of Yellowstone and Marshals to take the #2 spot globally, just behind recent Sheridan spin-off Dutton Ranch. In the United States, The Agency is also in second place, once again just behind the Yellowstone sequel.
‘The Agency’ Season 2 Scored 90% on Rotten Tomatoes
While MovieWeb found a lot to love about The Agency Season 1, including Michael Fassbender’s “haunting, lonely performance” that rivals his best work in the likes of Shame and The Killer in what was declared an “increasingly thrilling spy drama that doubles as one of the year’s best character studies,” the reviews overall were a little divisive. Something that was reflected in its 61% Rotten Tomatoes score.
However, The Agency Season 2 is a vast improvement, with the show’s return scoring a far more impressive 90%, with ScreenRant’s 10/10 review concluding, “Fassbender’s role as Martian in The Agency season 2 not only serves as an acting masterclass by one of Hollywood’s best dramatic stars, but it is also a lesson in how to build a complex and compelling protagonist.”
Release Date
December 1, 2024
Network
Paramount+ with Showtime
Showrunner
Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth
Directors
Joe Wright, Zetna Fuentes, Neil Burger