The Social Network Part II's cast might just include Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison; everything to know

Hindustan Times

6 days ago

Before Jesse Eisenberg became the face of offbeat Gen Z cinema in A Real Pain (2024), he embodied a very different type of disruptor — Mark Zuckerberg, the cold, calculating genius behind Facebook, in 2010's The Social Network. Now, over a decade later, a new chapter of the Facebook saga is in the works, and it may be even more relevant in a post-privacy era. Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison
Aaron Sorkin, the writer behind the iconic first film, is returning and this time, he's also stepping in to direct. While the original focused on the birth of a billion-dollar idea in a Harvard dorm room, The Social Network Part II will dive into something much murkier: the real-world consequences of that idea.
Rumour has it that this follow-up won't be a typical sequel. Instead of retreading Zuckerberg's origin story, it will probably dramatise The Facebook Files, a 2021 investigative series by The Wall Street Journal's Jeff Horowitz that exposed how Facebook knowingly ignored or amplified harm on its platform — from political radicalisation to teen mental health.
About the cast
Sorkin is reportedly eyeing Emmy-winner Jeremy Allen White from The Bear to play Horowitz and Anora (2024) breakout Mikey Madison to portray the unnamed whistleblower who made the exposé possible. While no official offers have been made, insiders who spoke to Deadline say the duo are his top picks. The casting process is still underway, with industry talent scrambling for meetings, hoping for the kind of career-defining roles the original film offered its ensemble.
Whether Jesse Eisenberg returns as Zuckerberg remains to be seen. His Oscar-nominated performance helped shape the cultural image of Big Tech's first villain, but in this new story, the focus may lie less on him and more on the forces working to hold tech giants accountable.