Facing El Chapo has the kind of ending that immediately makes you wonder what could possibly come next. The Netflix crime thriller, originally titled La Captura, arrived globally on August 21, 2026, and quickly became one of those movies that gets people talking long after the credits roll.
As a fan of crime movies, I actually like the fact that Facing El Chapo doesn’t feel like it was designed to launch another ten-part franchise. It tells one tense story, keeps the focus on a single night, and doesn’t try to turn Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán into some larger-than-life action hero.
But Netflix has a habit of following successful crime dramas with something else. So the obvious question is now floating around: Will there be a Facing El Chapo 2?
Right now, there is no official confirmation of a sequel from Netflix or director Chava Cartas. And honestly, after watching how the first movie is structured, I don’t think a conventional sequel makes much sense.
That doesn’t mean the Facing El Chapo concept is finished, though.
Why Facing El Chapo 2 Is Difficult to Make
The biggest problem is surprisingly simple: real life already wrote the ending.
The movie is built around the final recapture of Joaquín Guzmán on January 8, 2016, in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. Rather than covering decades of cartel history, the film narrows its attention to the terrifying encounter between two Mexican federal police officers and one of the most wanted criminals on the planet.
That limited perspective is one of the things I enjoyed most about the movie.
The officers, portrayed by Alfonso Herrera and Noé Hernández, aren’t presented as invincible action heroes. They suddenly find themselves dealing with a situation far beyond what a normal traffic stop should ever become. The tension comes from the fact that everyone understands how dangerous the situation is.
And once Guzmán is captured, the central story has nowhere obvious to go.
A sequel in which the same officers somehow have another major confrontation with El Chapo would require the filmmakers to invent events that didn’t happen. That would completely change the character of the movie.
There are ways around that, of course. Hollywood has been inventing fictional continuations of real events forever. But Facing El Chapo works specifically because it feels grounded in something that actually happened.
Turning it into a traditional action franchise would probably weaken that quality.
The Netflix Sequel Question
Netflix hasn’t officially announced Facing El Chapo 2, and that’s the part fans should pay attention to.
The movie’s success could absolutely make Netflix interested in another project. Streaming companies don’t need every successful film to have the same characters. Sometimes the smarter move is simply to repeat the formula with a new story.
We’ve seen this approach many times with crime television.
The Narcos franchise is probably the clearest example. Rather than forcing the original Colombian story to continue indefinitely, Netflix eventually shifted the focus to Mexico with Narcos: Mexico. The locations, characters and historical circumstances changed, but the overall appeal remained.
That’s exactly the route I could see Facing El Chapo taking.
Instead of Facing El Chapo 2, Netflix could develop another Spanish-language crime thriller under a similar creative umbrella.
Think of it as an anthology.
What Netflix Could Do Instead
- A major cartel leader being hunted by Mexican authorities.
- A dangerous military operation that went wrong.
- A police unit caught between government orders and cartel retaliation.
- Another famous arrest from Mexico’s modern drug-war history.
- A fictional law-enforcement operation inspired by real events.
That would allow Chava Cartas and the writers to keep the gritty tone without pretending that El Chapo’s story somehow continued after his final capture.
And personally, I’d rather see that than a forced Facing El Chapo 2.
What About Alfonso Herrera and Noé Hernández?
This is where expectations should probably be kept under control.
Herrera and Hernández give the movie much of its human tension, but their characters are tied to a very specific historical incident. Bringing them back simply because audiences liked them would create a problem for the story.
Could Netflix create fictional follow-up characters played by the same actors? Absolutely.
Could the actors appear in an anthology sequel as completely different law-enforcement officers? Also possible.
But seeing the exact same characters chasing cartel criminals again would feel more like a conventional franchise than the grounded historical thriller we actually got.
That’s not necessarily impossible. It just wouldn’t be the same kind of movie.
Could There Be a “Facing El Mencho” Movie?
This is probably the more interesting possibility.
Mexico’s cartel history contains enough major operations to fuel an entire collection of movies. If Netflix wants to turn the Facing concept into something bigger, it doesn’t need to stay locked to Guzmán.
A hypothetical Facing El Mencho could explore another major operation involving Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The focus could remain on the people on the ground rather than making the cartel leader the protagonist.
That distinction matters.
One of the strongest things about this type of crime thriller is watching ordinary officers suddenly become responsible for an extraordinary prisoner. The audience knows exactly how dangerous the person they’re dealing with is, while the characters have to survive the situation in real time.
That formula can work with completely different historical figures.
Why a Spiritual Sequel Makes More Sense
Here’s how I see the situation:
| Possibility | My Take |
|---|---|
| Facing El Chapo 2 with the same story | Very unlikely |
| Direct continuation with the same officers | Doesn’t fit the real events |
| New movie based on another cartel operation | Very plausible |
| Anthology using the “Facing” concept | Best option |
| Another unrelated Netflix cartel thriller | Also very possible |
The important thing is that success doesn’t automatically mean a traditional sequel.
If Netflix sees strong viewing numbers for Facing El Chapo, the company has every reason to look for another project with the same audience appeal. But that doesn’t mean the next movie needs to feature El Chapo again.
In fact, repeating the same formula too literally could be a mistake.
The first film has a particular atmosphere because the audience knows this is a historical event with a predetermined outcome. The suspense isn’t about whether history will change. It’s about watching the characters get closer and closer to an extremely dangerous situation.
A new story could recreate that feeling without recycling the same characters.
What Fans Are Saying About Facing El Chapo 2
The early reaction around the movie has naturally produced plenty of sequel speculation. Some viewers want another chapter because they simply don’t want the experience to end. That’s understandable.
When a crime thriller gets the atmosphere right, 90 minutes can feel ridiculously short.
Other viewers seem to prefer keeping the movie as a standalone story. I’m closer to this camp.
There is something refreshing about a thriller that doesn’t immediately scream, “This is only the beginning.”
We already have enough franchises where every ending is treated as a setup for another installment. Sometimes a movie can tell its story, finish it, and walk away.
Facing El Chapo has that opportunity.
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My Prediction for Facing El Chapo 2
If I had to bet on what Netflix does next, I wouldn’t put much money on Facing El Chapo 2 in the traditional sense.
I would, however, bet on Netflix exploring another serious Spanish-language cartel thriller if the movie performs strongly enough.
The Facing name could potentially become a brand rather than a single continuing storyline. Each film could examine a different real-world operation, different officers and different cartel figures.
That would actually be a pretty smart direction.
It gives filmmakers freedom, keeps the stories connected thematically, and avoids the awkward problem of creating fictional adventures for historical figures whose real lives already have documented endings.
And there’s plenty of material.
Mexico’s modern criminal history is filled with high-risk arrests, military operations, intelligence investigations, prison escapes and police encounters that could easily become the foundation for another tense feature film.
So, Will Netflix Make Facing El Chapo 2?
As of August 24, 2026, Netflix has not officially announced Facing El Chapo 2.
There is also no confirmed release date, returning cast announcement, or statement from Chava Cartas establishing that a direct sequel is in development.
For me, that’s not particularly disappointing.
The first movie doesn’t need another chapter about El Chapo. Its story is built around a specific historical event, and that event already has an ending. Trying to manufacture another confrontation would risk turning a tight historical thriller into a generic cartel action franchise.
A spiritual sequel, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense.
Give us another real operation. Another dangerous prisoner. Another group of officers who suddenly realize they’re standing in the middle of something much bigger than themselves. Keep the Spanish-language setting, the grounded performances and that uncomfortable feeling that everything could go wrong at any second.
That’s the Facing El Chapo follow-up I’d actually want to watch.
And if Netflix goes that route, the better question may not be “When is Facing El Chapo 2 coming out?”
It might be “Whose story will Netflix put us in front of next?”
