‘Presumed Innocent’ Season 2: Everything To Know So Far About The New Case And Different Defendant For Apple TV+ (March 2025 Update)

Apple TV+ has been flexing major muscle in the sci-fi department while also keeping the comedy fires burning. Yet do not sleep on their thrillers, which might not be as plentiful in supply but nonetheless pack a dramatic punch. Such as the case with the first Presumed Innocent season, which progressed into the show sidestepping the “limited series” label after the Jake Gyllenhall series became the tech giant’s most-watched original drama series since Apple TV+ launched in 2019.

In other words, Presumed Innocent has a second season coming, so let’s talk about what major changes we can expect.

Plot

When Presumed Innocent returns, the show will move beyond Rusty Sabich’s (Gyllenhaal) story about his infidelity-soaked murder trial. That is to say, a new defendant will be on the hook for another case, and that shouldn’t be too terribly surprising. Sure, there is a Rusty followup novel, Innocent, but it picks up 20 years following the events of Presumed Innocent, which is too hefty of a time jump to be feasible without mega-aging makeup. Even if Apple TV+ decided to rewrite the timeline to make that story feasible, deputy prosector Tommy Molto would be essential to the next story, and Peter Sarsgaard made it clear from the beginning that he was only down for one season.

So what gives? Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva filled in some blanks on how a still-unpublished “debut legal thriller,” Jo Murray’s Dissection of a Murder, will inspire the second season:

The book, set for a spring 2026 publication by Pam Macmillan, follows Leila Reynolds who has just been handed her first murder case. She’s way out of her depth but the defendant only wants her – and to make matters worse, her husband is the prosecutor. Soon Leila is fighting to keep her own secrets buried too.

Andreeva further notes that “[t]here had been an idea for a character or two from Season 1 to carry over for continuity in the vein of HBO’s The White Lotus; it is unclear whether that is still a possibility.” Rusty cameo, perhaps?

Without a straightforward sequel option coming from Turow’s other books, the author is onboard with the plan to switch things up. That plan, according to an Apple TV+ press release, involves “a suspenseful, brand new case” (based on Murray’s forthcoming novel) with both Turow and Gyllenhaal returning as executive producers alongside David E. Kelley and J.J. Abrams.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that Scott Turow does feature minor characters from Presumed Innocent in other books, so we could see some mixing, matching, and/or references to other novels emerge from the writers’ room. And never say never to an eventual Innocent adaptation, possibly for a future season.

Cast

Zero information has surfaced on possible actors for the second season. We do know that Peter Sarsgaard is entirely out, and this season isn’t going to revolve around Jake Gyllenhaal’s Rusty, but that doesn’t entirely rule out an appearance, especially if the “present day” timeline stays intact.

Release Date

This season surely will not surface before Jo Murray’s novel, which has an unclear “spring 2026” publication window. Once that date firms up, we should hear more about when Apple TV+ will roll out the second season.

Trailer

No way could a trailer exist yet, but I don’t think the world has paid enough attention to Lily Rabe’s therapist character (Dr. Liz Rush) from the first season. This featurette piles on the layers that helped make this series more than a stock legal-thriller story.