There will be spoilers for Tulsa King Season 1 in this feature, so back out now if you haven’t yet watched it, and want to remain unscathed.
Once upon a time, there was Yellowstone. And it was good. So good, in fact, that it spawned 1883, which in turn led to 1923. They also were good. So when Yellowstone mastermind Taylor Sheridan cooked up the idea for a Sylvester Stallone series titled Tulsa King, and joined forces with Boardwalk Empire’s Terence Winter, we assumed it also would be good. And it was. In my own personal opinion, it’s some of the best stuff Sylvester Stallone has done. That’s saying something. Which explains why executives at Paramount+ are talking about the possibility of expanding the Tulsa King universe… and I have three ideas on directions in which the spinoffs could go.
Tulsa King, at the moment, centers on New York gangster Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone), who gets ostracized by his Mafia family after spending 25 years in prison for what we learn is a mercy killing. Manfredi is sent by his bosses to Oklahoma, where they assume he’ll dry up and blow away. Only, Manfredi figures out how to earn… and create a lot of problems for the locals. Due to the events that happened in the season finale (read more about them in this article), Dwight seems to be on a collision course with a character we thought was an ally. No spoilers. Go watch the show, if you have a Paramount+ subscription.
Speaking with Indiewire, Paramount+’s chief programming officer Tanya Giles was asked about the possibility of spinning out on Tulsa King and giving the show the Yellowstone treatment following its successful debut season. And she replied:
The short answer is absolutely. We’re open to the possibilities, everything. What we love to do is take this valuable IP and turn anything into a franchise because we believe there’s a world of storytelling to be told that the audience can enjoy, and they love the characters. Let’s see where it can take us. … The huge success we’ve had with Tulsa King and Sylvester Stallone opens up possibilities with Taylor Sheridan, who consistently, his mind works in terms of universes and backstories, so I think there’s always a possibility that there’s more to that universe and more to that story. More to come there.
Given what we know about the first season of Tulsa King, and the threads it will continue to pull on moving forward, here are three areas of the story that could easily be explored further with a spinoff show.
The Invernizzi Crime Family
We first met this crime “family” when Dwight Manfredi was released from prison in the pilot episode of Tulsa King, and made his pilgrimage to pay tribute to and kiss the ring of Pete “The Rock” Invernizzi (A.C. Peterson). The family immediately banished Dwight to Tulsa, but you know that’s a sliver of the activity the Invernizzi’s were running through Pete, his short-tempered son “Chickie” (Domenick Lombardozzi), and their various soldiers.
A spinoff focusing on the comings and goings of the Invernizzi family could shift the focus back to Manhattan, where you just knew a cesspool of criminal activity is happening under Pete’s watch. It would allow Dwight (Sylvester Stallone) the opportunity to periodically check in, but primarily focus on the Manhattan members of this enterprise, and the various wars they likely are having with rival families around the area. It’s never a bad idea to explore the gangster lifestyle in a weekly format. Terence Winter also has plenty of experience from The Sopranos, and would make for an excellent showrunner on this potential program.