A bone-rattling action favorite still in line for a Netflix sequel comes in from the cold of irrelevance

One of the industry’s finest action directors partnering up with a top-tier icon of cinematic ass-kicking for a critically-acclaimed and commercially successful comic book adaptation is the stuff franchises are made of, but we’re still waiting patiently for the second chapter in the Atomic Blonde saga to emerge.

John Wick director David Leitch’s cemented his credentials with another dizzying display of bone-crunching brutality, all anchored by the latest in a long line of fantastic Charlize Theron performances, as if the Academy Award winner needed to remind anyone else that she’s just as comfortable dropping bodies as she is luxuriating in awards season glory.

Atomic Blonde recouped its $30 million budget three and a half times over at the box office, found itself Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 79 percent score, and had a sequel announced with the caveat that it would be a Netflix exclusive, unfortunately dashing any hopes of that John Wick crossover Theron had teased more than once.

And yet, it’s been half a decade since we were first introduced to Lorraine Broughton, and almost three since it was revealed Netflix would be spearheading the sophomore installment, but the trail has gone stone-cold. To that end, Redditors have been celebrating the many positives of the excellent Atomic Blonde, while also questioning the lack of movement on the follow-up.

Theron already has an explosive multi-film series in the works at the platform through fellow graphic novel bedfellow The Old Guard, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for Atomic Blonde, too. The setup was there for multiple additional stories, we just need to wait patiently to see if any of them actually end up happening.