“I want to believe in romance.”
I bet we all did when we witnessed the vivacity and the magnetic pull between Nick and Charlie on screen. Netflix’s recent coming-of-age romance release Heartstopper has created quite a buzz around the audience. By portraying beautifully evolving relationships between individuals and showing the actual spark between them with every touch and look, it has truly etched itself in the minds of hardcore romantics. Heartstopper puts a special twist on your classic Rom-Com movies that sometimes tend to elude the realities of a budding romance. Every relationship comes with its hardships, and Heartstopper has managed to strike a perfect balance between showing us the realistic side of a relationship and, at the same time, giving us some sparkly unicorn romance stories.
The inclusivity and diversity factor added to the mix made it a truly spectacular series and left the audience wanting more, even after two Seasons. Season 2 aired only yesterday, and most people have already completed binge-watching it only hours after it dropped. It which was given a 100% rating from Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8.7/10 based on 22 reviews, with the consensus reading: “Beautifully acted and scripted, Heartstopper‘s second season is fit to burst with emotional truth.”
Well now that Season 2 is out and running on Netflix, fans are wondering when Season 3 will drop since both Season 2 and Season 3 were renewed by Netflix on May 20th, 2022. The burning question remains whether the strike situation will dissipate Season 3’s production, and how much of a delay can we expect?
Heartstopper Season 3: Renewal Status
Before we get into the nit-gritty of when Season 3 will release, let us look at the renewal announcement for it.
Season 1 of Heartstopper performed beyond expectations and triggered a two-season renewal (Season 2 and Season 3) on May 20, 2022 itself. Heartstopper creator and writer Alice Oseman had a special announcement to make regarding this:
“We were overjoyed with the global reaction to Heartstopper and can’t wait to continue the story with two more seasons. Watch this space!”
Check out the renewal status:
✌️ more seasons of Heartstopper! 🍂🍂https://t.co/u65kBHzJ9p pic.twitter.com/s6NKkU9Hl3
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) May 20, 2022
Excited yet? We can feel animated paper leaves rustle around us too! (*insider reference*- Whenever any character felt with their respective partners, animated paper leaves, sparks, and hearts fluttered around them!)
Heartstopper Season 3: Expected Release Date
We have some good news for you, Heartstopper shippers. It has been speculated that Season 3 was already in active development along with Season 2, which makes sense because the two were announced to be renewed at the same time. Plus, Heartstopper Season 2 was just released on Netflix yesterday, which makes it too soon for confirmation of when Season 3 will arrive.
We must also address the elephant in the room. The WGA and SAG AFTRA strike, which has caused delays in innumerable productions and script-writing, is currently in its third month of protest, and so far, no negotiations have taken place. This has created a domino effect whereby scripted shows have faced delay after delay, even though they have promised their viewers a release on a certain date. So it is wise to remain cautious and not to get our hopes up of Season 3 coming anytime soon until and unless the strike dissipates.
With that being said, the first season of Heartstopper was released on 22 April 2022, and the second on 3 August 2023. Following this pattern, we can hope season three will be released just over a year after season 2, so let’s hope Heartstopper season 3 will drop on Netflix around September 2024. But if we take the strike delay into consideration, our prediction would be between late 2024 and early 2025.
However, in case there is news of an earlier release, we will immediately inform you. Until then, we urge you to keep a close watch on all their social media platforms and also keep an eye on Web News Observer.
Heartstopper Season 3: Cast
As of now, we speculate that the following cast members will return:
- Kit Connor as Nick Nelson
- Joe Locke as Charlie Spring
- William Gao as Tao Xu
- Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent
- Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson
- Jenny Walser as Tori Spring
- Sebastian Croft as Ben Hope
- Corinna Brown as Tara Jones
- Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson
- Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Harry Greene
- Rhea Norwood as Imogen Heaney
- Stephen Fry as the voice of Headmaster Barnes
- Fisayo Akinade as Mr. Ajayi
- Chetna Pandya as Coach Singh
- Olivia Colman as Sarah Nelson.
Some other new faces introduced in Season 2:
- Leila Khan as Sahar
- Nima Taleghani as Mr. Farouk
- Georgina Rich as Jane Spring
- Joseph Balderrama as Julio Spring
- Momo Yeung as Yan Xu
- Bradley Richaes as James
- Bel Priestley as Naomi
- Ash Self as Felix
- Jack Barton as David Nelson
- Thibault de Montalember as Stephane Nelson
However, there is some speculation on Sebastian Croft returning as Ben Hope (a semi-antagonist) for Season 3, and Alice Olsman confirmed this to TUDUM. She said Ben’s role in Hearstoppers is now complete. Additionally, his character also does not make it past Volume One of the graphic comics (Osman’s) on which the series is based.
*Spoiler Alert*
Upon his character not getting a redemption arc before saying goodbye to the show, Croft told TUDUM in the same interview,
“Alice and I both felt strongly about him not having a redemption arc. It’s a really beautiful way of having these two people who have been through a lot — and Ben’s been horrible to Charlie — to have that conversation and explore it on a deeper level than I felt like we got to do in Season 1.”
They added saying,
“Particularly as the aftershocks of Ben’s manipulation are still causing Charlie pain,” they said. “Ben can become a better person, but Charlie should not have to witness that, endorse it, or offer any forgiveness. And so he won’t.”
We think that’s a sharp deflection from the regular cliched endings we usually witness in similar situations. In a way, it also reflects real life and how ‘messed up confused people like Ben’ use other people as decoys to not face their own problems and face the consequences of their own actions.
Heartstoppers Season 3: Expected Plot
Throughout the two seasonal development progression, we have seen all the characters coming into their own and facing their true selves.
Season 3 is likely to pick up from Season 2, where the following things took place:
Nick and Charlie navigate their new relationship, Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) face unforeseen challenges, and Tao and Elle work out if they can ever be more than just friends. With exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris, and a prom to plan, the gang has a lot to juggle as they journey through the next stages of life, love, and friendship.
It is speculated that season 3 could be based on Heartstopper Volume 4 with some new plots that fit perfectly with the show. There are still two more volumes in the Heartstopper graphic novel series yet to be released. Heartstopper Volume 5 is set to be released in December 2023, which will have a follow-up as Volume 6 arrives after the fifth volume, making it the final Heartstopper volume.
The final episode of Season 2, “Summer Of Love” incidentally fit the episode as the whole group came together for prom night and shared incomparable moments with each other. However, Darcy was missing, and it was because of her neurotic, homophobic mother who messed her up mentally from time to time. Darcy did show up later, and we got to witness a beautiful warm hug between her and the entire group! Moreover, toward the end, we get a perfect montage of the entire gang just hanging around each other, making memories.
Nick and Charlie
The final scenes saw Charlie leaving Nick’s house beaming with love while he typed in the words “I Love You” to Nick. But we never get to see if he pressed SEND!
Practically Season 3 will pick up from here and take us through the journey of their love, the ups and downs in their relationship now that Nick will have to move to college. Will long-distance work out between them? Will there be new distractions along the way? Or will they overcome all the odds and remain stronger than ever? Season 3 will have the answer to all our questions.
Moreover, the book on which Season 3 will be based states, “Charlie and Nick head off to college and their relationship grows and strengthens. But, they both have other things on their mind, with Nick coming out to his dad and Charlie battling mental health and eating disorder.” It will be interesting to see something more than just their romance. Maybe how they support each other through real-life problems and are not scared to stand up to their parents
Tao and Elle
Another couple that made us ooh and aah throughout Season 2. Elle and Tao are stronger than ever, and it will be interesting to see how they carry forward from this point. Will we expect some new drama? A new man in Elle’s life? Guess we just have to wait and watch.
Tara and Darcy
Season 2 showed us that these two stick together like glue through the hardest times. With a controlling homophobic mother spiraling around her head, Darcy still had the guts to leave home and go straight to Tara to confess her love for her. We could expect no less in Season 3, when these issues will tend to come back and haunt the couple. Will they stand together against all odds? Or will the pressure cause cracks in their cemented bond?
Isaac
The cute, shy, introvert who always had his face buried in his books always had something big going on beneath the surface. Season 2 gave us a hint about his sexual orientation, which was not talked about before. He went to the library to find answers after he and James shared a kiss (since he thought he was gay, but it turns out he did not feel anything during the kiss). When he saw a book on ‘Asexuality,’ the paper rustles began circling him, indicating that he found comfort in what it meant and his own connection to the word.
Season 3 can show us exploring his asexuality with someone who does not want to have a sexual relationship. Will James be the one? Or will there be another person he can share this with? We just have to wait for Season 3 to find out!
All in all, this series justifies the dynamics and real-life situations of the LGBTQ+ community as well as brings in a lot of inclusivity through the cast members. Heartstopper is about “exploring real, serious issues that can be dark, but trying to balance that with that feeling of hope that things can and will get better,” said Oseman. “From a writing perspective, that can be really difficult to achieve without making it too dark or without skimming over the darker elements of the story. But striving for that balance is the point of Heartstopper.”
Heartstopper Season 3: Official Trailer
The next season is expected to be consistent with the official episode count and includes at least 8 episodes with a runtime of 26–41 minutes that can be divided into two parts or dropped at the same time, just like the earlier two seasons.
Since the release dates for Heartstopper Season 3 have not been announced yet, we do not have an official trailer for it in possession. We will be sure to update this space when we come across one.
In the meantime, check out the official trailer for Heartstopper Season 2:
With that being said, stay tuned to Web News Observer and turn on your notifications for more updates on your favorite series and celeb gossip!