While comedy might be one of the toughest genres to get right on TV, the Hulu series Deli Boys, which first released on March 6, 2025, had the right a
While comedy might be one of the toughest genres to get right on TV, the Hulu series Deli Boys, which first released on March 6, 2025, had the right amount of humor, action, and family drama to make it a sleeper hit. The series, which has been coined as one of the best recent shows of 2025, won over fans with Season 1, and is getting ready to return with a bang next month.
On May 28, 2026, the second season of Deli Boys will be hitting the platform. And while Season 1’s 96% on Rotten Tomatoes might be a high bar to live up to, the series has some ambitious plans for the second installment that already has viewers at the edge of their seats.
What Is ‘Deli Boys’ About?
Deli Boys follows brothers Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj (Saagar Shaikh), who have taken the “nepo baby” lifestyle a bit too far and have been sailing through life under the veil of their wildly successful father, Baba (Iqbal Theba). Season 1, however, kicks off when Baba unexpectedly dies in a golfing accident, turning their sons’ world upside down. And, as it turns out, Baba didn’t exactly earn his fortune as a deli kingpin, and was a full-fledged drug lord in Philadelphia instead. Having no basic business knowledge, zero street smarts, and the softest survival instincts, Mir and Raj are suddenly thrust into the deep end of an empire they never asked for. As Raj retreats into delusion and younger brother Mir leans on his inherently anxious nature, their only hope is the no-nonsense, sharp-tongued, and occasionally terrifying, Lucky Auntie (Poorna Jagannathan), who has a tender spot for the kids, as well as ruthless instincts the boys could (and should) learn from.
Throughout the first season, Mir and Raj fumble their way through their unwanted inheritance, leading to some major mishaps and mistakes along the way. Among them is them tracking down a half-dead naked man in the streets, botching an attempt to unload cocaine, and trying to temper the sentiments of the FBI, Peruvian gangs, and “Paki Blinders.” From the jump, it’s clear that the two are not made for this and their frazzled interactions and naive assumptions prove it, but through their love for their father, and their attempt to honor his legacy, the Dar brothers try their very best to keep the family business afloat.
Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz
Which Action Hero Would Be
Your Perfect Partner?
Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn’t work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
Rambo
James Bond
Indiana Jones
John McClane
Ethan Hunt
FIND YOUR PARTNER →
01
You’re dropped into a unsafe situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner?
The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them.
BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to utilize it against the enemy.
CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart.
DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we’re walking into.
ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
You have to get somewhere unsafe, brisk. How do you travel?
How you get there is half the mission.
AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can’t follow.
BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too strenuous about it.
CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire.
DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won’t explain until it’s needed.
EBy whatever means are available — I’ve driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
You’re pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do?
This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I’ve reloaded.
BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works.
CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision.
DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive.
ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest?
Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
AA bar with terrible lighting, frigid beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings.
BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something pricey, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting.
CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation.
DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway.
EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you’ve had all week.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission?
Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost.
BDeadpan and arid — keeping it featherlight keeps me acute, even when everything is on fire.
CEnthusiastic and slightly cluttered — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise.
DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven’t thought of yet.
EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them?
The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we’re there.
BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past.
CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them.
DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows.
EFind the one thing they haven’t accounted for — there’s always one thing — and make sure we’re holding it.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
Things go badly wrong and you’re captured. What do you trust your partner to do?
Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there.
BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running.
CCome in raucous, come in brisk, and worry about the collateral damage later — I’d do the same for them.
DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I’m out — they don’t leave people behind.
ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the strenuous part, and still manage to look good doing it.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn’t replace?
A great partner fills the gap you didn’t know you had.
ATechnology that shouldn’t exist yet and the training to utilize it under any conditions.
BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it’s been tested.
CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless.
DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it.
EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.
NEXT QUESTION →
09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with?
No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner.
BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet.
CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through.
DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down.
EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.
NEXT QUESTION →
10
It’s the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now?
The last question is the most candid one.
AOne line. Absolutely arid. Delivered like the world isn’t ending. Then we move.
BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen.
CA plan I don’t fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat.
DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next.
ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that’s who they’ve always been.
REVEAL MY PARTNER →
Your Partner Has Been Assigned
Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Rambo
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
James Bond
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally unsafe person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most critical thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely informed partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will sluggish you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more cluttered than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not straightforward to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
‘Deli Boys’ Is Getting Ready for an Ambitious Season 2
With a little over a month until Season 2 of Deli Boys, the series is promising an invigorating second installment. In addition to the impressive returning cast, Season 2 will have a few recent faces, per TV Insider. Those include Fred Armisen as a powerful Philadelphia casino magnate, Kumail Nanjiani as Raj’s lawyer, Andrew Rannells as Andrew Chadwater, a politician who is campaigning for mayor, and guest appearances from Lilly Singh, Robin Thede, and Tan France, who will be returning as Zubair, the British Pakistani gangster first seen in Season 1. Check out the Season 2 synopsis below.
“Turns out inheriting a criminal empire was the easy part… and more money really does mean more problems. This season on Deli Boys, the Dars are drowning in dirty cash and Philly’s sketchiest crooks are circling. Enter Max Sugar (Armisen): casino king, money launderer, and Lucky’s (Jagannathan) new crush who turns laundering into a chaotic situationship. Raj (Shaikh) plots revenge on Ahmad, Mir (Ali) tries to expand DarCo without blowing it up, and Philly D.A. Andrew Chadwater (Rannells) hopes one big bust will make him mayor.”
Related
Off Script: Asif Ali on Deli Boys, Comedy Roots, Surviving Hollywood & More
Asif Ali opens up about Deli Boys, his stand-up career, immigrant parents, dream co-stars, and how to survive a truly unhinged production set.
With all that said, with Season 2 of Deli Boys right around the corner, there’s no better time than now to catch up. After all, not only does the series have some promising plot points for Season 2, but the series is a treat to comedy lovers. As Tania Hussain wrote in her Collider review for the series, Deli Boys is an “unrelenting stream of laughs.” And isn’t that exactly what viewers are looking for when they’re searching for comedies?
Release Date
March 6, 2025
Network
Hulu
Writers
Michelle Nader
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