Night City has a new cast and another story to tell. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 premieres on Netflix on 20 October 2026, with ten standalone episodes and Studio Trigger returning.
The streets are familiar, but the faces are not. Four years after Cyberpunk: Edgerunners introduced David Martinez and his crew, Netflix is heading back to Night City for a different story about the people trying to make a life there.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 premieres today, Tuesday 20 October 2026. The new ten-episode anime reunites CD Projekt Red and Japanese animation studio Trigger, with director Kai Ikarashi taking the helm. It shares the setting of the first series and Cyberpunk 2077, but it isn’t the next chapter of David’s adventures. The characters, conflicts and central story are new.
When does Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 arrive on Netflix UK?
Netflix and CD Projekt Red have confirmed 20 October 2026 as the worldwide premiere date. The show has its own Netflix UK listing, with Netflix as its exclusive streaming home. The date also appears in Netflix’s Tudum announcement and CD Projekt Red’s official announcement.
All ten episodes are due to arrive together rather than follow a weekly schedule. A global release-time announcement reported by Anime Corner puts the UK launch at approximately 8am BST on Tuesday. That is the expected release time, not a claim that individual episodes have already been checked in the UK app.
UK viewing note: The public Netflix UK page is live, but it does not establish whether the ten episodes are playable at the time you open it. Episode playback had not been independently confirmed when this article was prepared early on release morning. The simplest check is to open the title in the Netflix app and look for its episode list.
If you’re new to the series, the original Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is also on Netflix UK. Watching it first gives you a feel for the city, although the new series has been designed to stand on its own.
A new Night City story, not David Martinez’s sequel
The first anime followed David as he was pulled into Night City’s mercenary underworld. It was a story about ambition, found family and the cost of trying to get ahead in a place where almost everything is for sale. Its conclusion was part of what made it memorable.
Rather than undoing that ending, Edgerunners 2 changes perspective. David’s original storyline is not being continued. Night City remains the backdrop, but its new protagonists have their own histories, ambitions and enemies. Newcomers can follow them without needing to remember every event from the 2022 series.
The official premise centres on revenge and redemption, with questions of family, obsession and legacy running through the characters’ lives. Those themes make sense in the world of Cyberpunk, where chrome and corporate influence can change someone’s fortunes in an instant. Exactly how the newcomers’ stories collide is something the anime can reveal for itself.
Who are the new characters?
At the centre of the official character line-up is Weak, a veteran edgerunner once known as King. He has lost the cybernetic enhancements that helped establish his reputation and is struggling to find his place in a city that has moved on without him.
D is a netrunner from the Snake Nation, a nomad whose pursuit of revenge follows the destruction of his clan. His skills and determination put him on a dangerous path, but the official introduction stops short of revealing where that pursuit will lead.
Then there is Roman Carax, a young film enthusiast determined to capture genuine stories in a society obsessed with braindance recordings. Talia, meanwhile, comes from a corporate upbringing but has been shaped by her association with Maelstrom, one of Night City’s most violent gangs.
The Japanese voice cast includes Kentaro Tone as Weak, Koki Uchiyama as D, Momoka Terasawa as Roman and Akari Kitō as Talia. Their contrasting backgrounds suggest there is plenty of ground for the series to cover without returning to familiar protagonists. They also give Night City four very different sets of eyes through which to see its dangers.
Studio Trigger returns, with Kai Ikarashi directing
The new cast arrives with a familiar creative partnership. Studio Trigger, whose distinctive animation brought the original series to life, is again working with CD Projekt Red. Netflix has described the second instalment as having a reimagined animation style, so the return to Night City does not necessarily mean repeating the first series’ visual approach.
Kai Ikarashi directs, succeeding Hiroyuki Imaishi, who led the original. Returning writer and showrunner Bartosz Sztybor is joined by Masahiko Otsuka, with Kanno Ichigo as lead character designer. The creative team bridges the two productions while giving this story room to find an identity of its own.
The official premiere-date teaser, released by the verified Cyberpunk 2077 YouTube channel, offers a look at the new crew and the neon-soaked city they inhabit. It makes for a useful first impression without needing to dig into plot details.
How does Edgerunners 2 connect to Cyberpunk 2077?
Both anime instalments share their world with the video game Cyberpunk 2077. Night City is a place of towering corporate influence, cybernetic body modification and people prepared to take extraordinary risks to survive. Players will recognise its atmosphere and terminology, but the new anime is not a retelling of the game’s main campaign.
That distinction leaves room for viewers who have never played the game. Familiarity with Night City adds context; it isn’t an entry requirement. The setting is the common thread rather than any need to follow V, David or a particular questline.
It is also a reminder that screen adaptations do not have to reproduce a game’s central plot. Our report on Xbox’s XP entertainment division covered the broader effort to take gaming franchises into television and film. Edgerunners has a different advantage: its fictional city is spacious enough to tell another story without borrowing the original protagonists.
Tech Torque Verdict
Leaving David Martinez’s storyline alone is a sensible choice. His story already has its shape, and a fresh cast allows the creators to explore more of Night City without treating the original anime as something that needs to be reopened.
There is plenty to look forward to in a new ten-episode series from Trigger, particularly with Ikarashi directing. Whether it matches the first show’s emotional impact will depend on the characters and the storytelling, not the familiar skyline. That judgement can wait until the episodes have been watched. For release day, the important thing is clear: this is another story from Night City, not David’s story continued.
