Mahershala Ali Joins Season 2 Of ‘Task’ At HBO With Mark Ruffalo

HBO‘s critically acclaimed crime drama Task is not pulling any punches with the casting of (*2*)’s counterpart within the second season as sources inform Deadline Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali is ready to hitch the present. Ali will play Eddie Barnes, a seasoned and well-respected DEA agent in Philadelphia whose staff comes into battle with Tom’s unit.

Season two follows Ruffalo’s return as Agent Tom Brandis, takes the helm of a brand new job power, however the deeper the operation runs, the more durable it’s to inform who’s the goal. Ingelsby is again as exec producer, author and showrunner. Joining him as exec producers are Paul Lee and Mark Roybal for wiip in addition to Jeremiah Zagar, Ruffalo, and Ron Schmidt. Nicole Jordan-Webber and Karen Wacker will be part of as co-exec producers.

Although HBO will proceed to say the present was by no means a restricted collection and a second season was on the desk, sources near the venture say the preliminary plan was for one season just like Ingelsby’s different HBO crime drama Mare of Eastown. Once manufacturing had concluded on the primary season, Ingelsby and Ruffalo felt there was nonetheless extra to discover along with his character and started plotting a second season arc. Once the primary season concluded to huge numbers and unbelievable critiques, Ingelsby was properly on his solution to writing the subsequent season and a second season renewal shortly adopted with Ruffalo returning to star.

The one factor that was lacking SPOILER ALERT is that HBO and Ingelsby knew they must change Ruffalo’s co-star Tom Pelphrey’s character, who’s killed on the finish of season 1. Pelphrey’s efficiency was pretty much as good as any on tv in ’25 and execs and producers knew they must purpose excessive for season two and determined to go to a well-recognized face that had helped relaunched one other fashionable crime drama years in the past.

Ali, who starred within the third season of HBO’s True Detectivewas on the high of the checklist and after studying that first script and assembly with Ingelsby was on board to hitch Ruffalo within the upcoming season. The one distinction this go round is a rival DEA agent on the identical aspect of the legislation as a substitute of Pelphrey’s legal preventing for survival.

Ali is ready to have a busy 12 months forward of him on the movie aspect with the extremely anticipated Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother bowing later this 12 months. Written and directed by Bassam Tariq (Mogul Mowgli), the dramatic thriller can be launched this fall by MGM Studios and Amazon.

Ali not too long ago starred in Universal’s highest grossing movie of 2025, Jurassic World: Rebirth alongside Scarlett Johanson. In 2023, Ali starred alongside Julia Roberts in Netflix’ critically acclaimed and extremely profitable movie Leave the World Behind which premiered to over 121 million views in its first month on the platform.

He is repped by Cognition, CAA and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.