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Presumed Innocent heads into its second season, and one of the first updates already changes the atmosphere around it. Matthew Rhys, the Emmy winner remembered for The Americans and more recently for Perry Mason, is now confirmed as part of the cast. Collider shared the announcement, placing him alongside Rachel Brosnahan and Jack Reynor. A trio that shifts the focus of what the series can be in this next step.
It is not just a new face. Rhys carries a reputation built over years of roles that stayed in memory. From characters living double lives to lawyers torn between duty and doubt, his work tends to leave something unsettled. That fits the space Presumed Innocent has been building since it first appeared on Apple TV+.
Looking back at the first chapter
The first season went back to Scott Turow’s 1987 novel. The story was already familiar because a movie came out in 1990. At the center was Rusty Sabich. Jake Gyllenhaal played him, a Chicago prosecutor whose life flipped when he became the main suspect in the death of a colleague. The series showed up on Apple TV+ in 2024 and people started paying attention. Awards talk followed. Four Emmy nominations in total. Gyllenhaal for Lead Actor. Ruth Negga for Supporting Actress. Bill Camp and Peter Sarsgaard in Supporting Actor. Those names were repeated again and again, and together they pushed the show into the bigger conversation about serious television at the time.
Why Rhys matters in Presumed Innocent season 2
The casting of Rhys came in as a way to keep the show steady but also to shake things up a little. His time as Philip Jennings in The Americans brought him the Emmy back in 2018, a sign of how he could handle long and complicated arcs. Later came Perry Mason, and that role asked for something different: a lawyer tied to the system but filled with doubts. With that history, his presence in Presumed Innocent carries weight. People already know what he can deliver, and the series feels ready to lean into that.
Building season two
Presumed Innocent was never a simple courtroom drama. Beneath every trial and investigation, the series worked with questions of ethics, power, desire, and pride. Collider’s review even called it a twisty and seductive legal thriller, praising how it stayed true to the novel while reshaping it for television. That approach now continues with Rhys involved. There is no confirmed outline of his role, but the decision to bring him in suggests a season designed to hold the same intensity while pushing further into the themes that marked the beginning.
How the first season was received
Critics highlighted how Gyllenhaal delivered one of the most intense performances of his career. Some moments came close to being too much, but the quieter energy of Negga, Camp, and Sarsgaard steadied the flow. That contrast was often what made scenes unpredictable. Collider gave the series a 9/10, calling attention to the balance between explosive acting and measured restraint. It was this reception that placed Presumed Innocent among the standout Apple TV+ releases of 2024.
Rhys across other projects
Before joining Presumed Innocent, Rhys had already wrapped work on Widow’s Bay, a supernatural drama of ten episodes made for Apple TV+ by Katie Dippold. In that story, he plays a mayor from a small New England town, a place that cannot escape an old curse. He also appears in The Beast in Me, a Netflix limited series with Claire Danes that is set to arrive in November 2025. And there is more. He lends his voice to the fourth season of Invincible, which is expected in 2026. Taken together, these projects show how wide his path has become, moving from crime and legal dramas into supernatural plots and even animation.
Waiting for what comes next
Apple TV+ has not announced a release date for the second season of Presumed Innocent. For now, the timeline stays open. What is clear is the cast: Brosnahan and Reynor returning, Rhys stepping in, and the foundation of a series that already proved its relevance with critical recognition and multiple Emmy nominations. The absence of a date keeps the audience waiting, but the combination of names ensures that the series does not leave the conversation.
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Closing notes
Presumed Innocent showed in its first season that a familiar story can feel new when told with care and intensity. The four Emmy nominations gave weight to that achievement. With Matthew Rhys confirmed for the second season, the show gains another actor capable of carrying stories marked by complexity and tension. The release date has not been set yet, but the announcement alone keeps the series on the list of the most anticipated titles coming to Apple TV+.
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