Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 is out now on Netflix, and showrunner Bartosz Sztybor has explained two of the season's most debated creative calls: why most of the main cast ends up with something resembling a happy ending, and why the show will never explain who Roman really is. Sztybor, who holds the showrunner, writer and producer titles on the new season, spoke about both in an interview tied to the release.
Why Roman's dad got cut from the script
The answer to the Roman mystery is simpler than the fan theories. In the first draft of the scripts, Roman's father had considerably more dialogue with him. That material was cut. Sztybor said the scenes simply handed over too much backstory, and the show was better off without it.
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He went further: the Cyberpunk franchise will never show Roman's backstory. Not later this season, not in a spin-off. If you've been waiting for the reveal, stop waiting. It isn't coming.
The character works precisely because of what's withheld. Roman is a young boy who loves retro things and carries an old-school camcorder around with him, and Sztybor frames him as a glimpse of innocence and hope in a setting that doesn't usually offer either. That reading depends on him staying a little unknown. Fill in the gaps and the effect leaks out.
A softer landing than Season 1
The bigger structural change is the ending. Season 1 became notorious for killing basically everyone, which made a direct continuation awkward. In Edgerunners 2, most of the main characters get a happier conclusion of some kind. That's a departure for the series, and it's not accidental.
Sztybor didn't dress it up as fan service. The tonal shift is a creative decision, and it happens to solve a practical problem too: characters who survive can come back. The season doesn't just end differently, it leaves the franchise room to keep going.
The pitch that landed at Studio Trigger
The first pitch to Studio Trigger wasn't a straightforward sequel setup. Sztybor describes it as an homage to 90s pop culture built around a Pulp Fiction-like structure, with several characters whose stories connect. That approach explains why the season is willing to spread its attention across a larger cast rather than hanging everything on one lead.
Whether the interconnected structure holds together across the full run is a judgment call for viewers. The review of Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 scored it 9 out of 10, so the formula appears to be landing.
What comes next
There's no announced follow-up season yet, and no word on whether the surviving cast will carry forward. What is settled is the Roman question. Sztybor has closed that door publicly, which means any future Cyberpunk project from here has to leave the boy with the camcorder as he is.
