As “The Family Plan 2” streams globally, just two years since the original, Mark Wahlberg knows as producer and star what’s required to make a successful sequel.

“Well, it’s got to live up to the expectations of the audience. It’s got to hopefully be better than the first,” Wahlberg, 57, explained in a Zoom interview. “And you could always try to do that with bigger set pieces, more action, a more interesting backdrop of the locations.

“But for me, the whole movie really is about family. That’s why families all over the world enjoyed the movie so much! Found it so relatable and so fulfilling.

“We just wanted to elevate that. So how do you elevate what people love the most, which was the character?  It’s the story.”

Wahlberg’s Dan Morgan, exposed as a retired assassin in the first “Family Plan,” organizes a family Christmas in London where his eldest, Nina (Zoe Colletti), is studying. He may be shocked to discover she has a parkour-accomplished boyfriend Omar (Reda Elazouar) but his wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) appreciates the youth’s undeniable physicality.

Their perfect vacation becomes murderously complicated when Aidan (Kit Harington), a younger if unknown brother from Dan’s shady past, shows up with threats, demands and unfinished business.

As everyone races to Paris, the family discovers unimaginable secrets – as well as a tidy fortune.

Audiences from the start, “identified with the Morgans at some capacity,” Wahlberg said. “There’s a lot of wish fulfillment there. They found them to be enjoyable and wanted to go on this journey with them.

“The introduction of Dan’s younger brother I thought was the most interesting hook. Because it really comes down again to the emotion, and for me, the humor.

“Having a movie that works for the entire family, which the first one did so well, I thought adding a younger brother that Dan didn’t know existed could really elevate this for me.

“Look, I’m the youngest of nine. I’ve always wished I had a younger brother.  So my character is all about family, with him wishing he had a normal childhood and doing everything he could to just be the best dad and husband that he could be.

“But in this movie he’s in a very vulnerable position, versus the first one where you saw how he pretty much got through everything unscathed (until his secret was revealed).

“This time, because he wants to make it work with his brother, he’s much more vulnerable. Therefore, he’s relying on the family to step up and fill their roles in this mission to keep everybody safe.

“That was always a great hook: Audiences could understand why Dan would then let his guard down to try to make it work with his brother.”

“The Family Plan 2” streams on AppleTV Nov. 21