Tulsa King: Terence Winter on why he returned for the second season of the series he left behind

After the debut of Tulsa King, it was revealed that showrunner Terence Winter would be stepping down, reportedly due to creative differences with creator Taylor Sheridan. Fans were disappointed. After all, the man who was involved in The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and The Wolf of Wall Street was a big asset to the crime series. Then, just one year later, Winter surprisingly returned to Tulsa King for the second season.

While speaking with Deadline, Winter explained why he decided to come back to Tulsa King. “Because I love it. I love working with Sly. I love the cast, the crew, and we got to the point where we solved whatever creative … we all got on the same page creatively, I think,” Winter said. “And the fact that I got the opportunity to continue, I was absolutely not going to pass that up. It’s so much fun to do. And yeah, working with Sly and this group of actors has been one of the highlights, so I was so thrilled we were able to work that out.“

As for how his role on the series has changed, Winter said, “It’s changed in the sense that I’m much more focused on the writing than being on set and producing. We brought on a wonderful producing director this year, Craig Zisk. So that took a lot of those duties away from me, and it was really more about working directly with Sly and the writers. So in that sense, it changed. I did go out to Atlanta a couple of times where we were shooting this year and was involved with casting and that sort of stuff, but for the most part I kind of stayed put and just focused on the writing, which is really what I want to do.“

The official synopsis for Tulsa King season 2: “Dwight (Stallone) and his crew continue to build up and defend their growing empire in Tulsa, but just as they get their bearings, they realize that they’re not the only ones who want to stake their claim. With looming threats from the Kansas City mob and a very powerful local businessman, Dwight struggles to keep his family and crew safe while keeping track of all his affairs. Plus, he still has unfinished business back in New York.” The new season will premiere on Paramount+ on September 15th.