Will The Sopranos come back?

The Sopranos creator David Chase gives an unfortunate update about the show’s future. HBO’s iconic gangster series ended in 2007 with one of TV history’s most famous, and famously divisive, cuts to black. Against all odds, the world of The Sopranos made a comeback in 2021 with the release of The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel film bringing back younger versions of several of the show’s main characters, including Tony Soprano himself.

As for the possibility of another Sopranos revival after Many Saints of Newark, creator Chase just crushed such hopes, recently telling TV Insider that there is nothing cooking regarding the show’s future. When asked about the subject, Chase tersely replied, “No. The prequel was it.”

The Sopranos’ 6-season HBO run ended with a deliberately ambiguous scene that has been interpreted as the death of Tony Soprano. That the moment was kept ambiguous naturally led to speculation that Tony didn’t die, opening the door on the show’s return somewhere down the road. But that door slammed shut forever when Gandolfini tragically passed away in 2013 at the age of only 51.
Reviving The Sopranos in prequel form became the only viable option after Gandolfini’s death, and Chase indeed took that road with The Many Saints of Newark, casting Michael Gandolfini as the young Tony. Many Saints may have scratched a nostalgic itch for fans of the show, serving up amusing appearances from young versions of Paulie, Silvio and Uncle Junior, but it offered no obvious path forward in keeping The Sopranos alive as a franchise.

Chase definitively cutting off talk of a Sopranos return should come as no surprise, as without Gandolfini, there is no point in staging a sequel. As the show turns 25 years old, and new generations discover it thanks to streaming, the exploits of Tony and company continue to enthrall, but barring a lightning bolt of inspiration, The Sopranos has no future beyond the semi-satisfying nostalgia trip that was The Many Saints of Newark.