Mr. & Mrs. Smith Showrunner Clarifies Donald Glover & Maya Erskine Exit Reports (2024)

The article contains spoilers for Mr. & Mrs. Smith season 1.

showrunner Francesa Sloane clarifies reports that Donald Glover and Maya Erskine are leaving the Prime Video spy comedy. The series, co-created by Atlanta writer Sloane and Donald Glover, centers on Glover and PEN15 star Maya Erskine as two spies paired together to pose as a married couple while carrying out missions. It was confirmed earlier this month, after positive reviews from both audiences and critics, that would happen. However, some reports indicated that Glover and Erskine would not return to reprise their roles.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly's Awardist podcast, Sloane directly addressed those reports. The co-creator and showrunner mentioned that she'd been laughing with Glover about the news and said in part: “Why in the world would we ruin a cliffhanger based on a headline?” Sloane went on to mention that season 2 hasn't even been written yet and promised an answer to the season 1 ending. Read her full response below:

"I was just talking to Donald last night about this and we were laughing, because one of the pieces of press said, 'according to our sources,' and we're like, 'Who are these sources?' We wrote a cliffhanger, we thought about it long and hard. It was one of the first things that we wrote. Why in the world — we haven't said anything — but why in the world would we ruin a cliffhanger based on a headline?"

"We didn't even get to start writing [season 2] yet. Maya and Donald may be dead; they may not be dead. There will be an answer as to what happened at the end of season 1 in season 2.

What Does This Clarification Mean For Mr. & Mrs. Smith Season 2?

Will John & Jane Survive?

Sloane underlines the importance of . John and Jane are seemingly cornered and near death, bested by another pair of Smiths (played by Parker Posey and Wagner Moura) who are essentially experts at killing other spies that are no longer useful to the secret organization that they're all a part of. With just one bullet left, Jane goes out to kill Posey and Moura's characters. It's left ambiguous who survives.

The co-creator and showrunner stressed that Glover and Erskine's characters, actually named Michael and Alana, may well be dead. But reading between the lines, it sounds possible that they could still show up in some capacity. In any case, whether they appear on-screen for a long time or not, there will be closure on the fates of Alana and Michael.

Although the series quickly establishes several secret spy duos, viewers are invested in the dynamic between Glover and Erskine's leads. It will be a tough sell for Prime Video to find the perfect duo that matches the success of the first season or takes the spy romcom to new heights. But as it stands, it sounds like there are at least a few months to go before audiences learn the general direction of Mr. & Mrs. Smith season 2.

Source: EW

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a TV adaptation of the 2005 film starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine take on the lead roles for the series as spies who are placed in an arranged marriage for an undercover mission only to develop real feelings for each another.

Cast

Donald Glover , Maya Erskine , Paul Dano , John Turturro , Michaela Coel

Release Date

February 2, 2024

Seasons

1

Streaming Service(s)

Prime Video

Writers

Francesca Sloane , Donald Glover , Yvonne Hana Yi

Directors

Christian Sprenger

Creator(s)

Donald Glover , Francesca Sloane