Oscar Nuñez will return as Oscar Martinez in Peacock’s follow-up series to “The Office,” Variety has confirmed.
Sources say Nuñez will not be the central character in the upcoming mockumentary sitcom — which takes place in the same universe as “The Office” — as it is an ensemble series. But he is part of the show’s character mix, and has been in the opening script from the beginning.
There are no further details regarding Oscar’s role or storyline in the new show, which Greg Daniels is creating and executive producing with Michael Korman (“Nathan For You”).
As of now, Nuñez is believed to be the only “Office” cast member who will appear in the follow-up series (right now still referred to as the “Untitled Daniels/Korman Project”) — but it has been noted that since it lives in the world of “The Office,” there was always a chance that characters from the original series might appear.
Universal TV and representatives for Nuñez declined to comment. Sources close to the production note that in the past, when asked about rebooting “The Office,” Daniels has said he felt he told a complete story for most of the characters — but if there was one character he’d like to revisit and explore, it would be Oscar. (It’s believed that producers were hoping to keep Nuñez’s involvement a surprise, but the news first leaked Wednesday via newsletter The Insneider.)
The series, rumored to be titled “The Paper,” will follow the staffers of a dying Midwestern newspaper whose publisher is trying to revive it with volunteer reporters. It will be “filmed,” so to speak, by the same documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch in “The Office” — which might explain the connection to how Oscar winds up in the new setting.
The new show hails from Daniels, the mastermind behind the American “Office,” and Koman. Previously announced cast members include Domhnall Gleeson (“Star Wars”), Sabrina Impacciatore (“The White Lotus”), Chelsea Frei (“Poker Face”), Melvin Gregg (“Snowfall”), Gbemisola Ikumelo (“Black Ops”), Alex Edelman (“Just For Us”), Ramona Young (“Never Have I Ever”) and Tim Key (“The Witchfinder”).
Guest stars include Eric Rahill, Duane Shepard Sr., Allan Havey, Nate Jackson, Mo Welch, Nancy Lenehan, Molly Ephraim and Tracy Letts.
Character details have been kept under wraps. The series is expected to begin production in July.
Co-creators Daniels and Koman serve as executive producers along with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who created the original British version of the series, as well as Howard Klein, Ben Silverman and Banijay Americas. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio.
Daniels opened a writers’ room in January 2024 to begin working on the new iteration of “The Office,” which ran for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013 and followed the staffers of the Pennsylvania branch of a paper company. It starred Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, Ed Helms, Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak, among many others, including Nuñez. The show became even more popular in its afterlife, becoming one of television’s biggest streaming hits.
Nuñez’s other credits include “Lucky Hank,” “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” “Mr. Iglesias,” “People of Earth,” and films such as “The Proposal,” “Mascots” and “The Lost City.” He has also been regularly seen as a pitchman for State Farm.