Yellowjackets season 2 wrapped on May 28, 2023, with a melancholic gloom that haunts the viewers even after the finale. Aired over the Memorial Day weekend, the second season of Yellowjackets made the team come back to themselves, letting them accept their animalistic and dark instincts.
Although the second installment answered some of the burning questions of season one, untying the mystery of Javi, Jackie, and Shauna’s corpses, it did not take off without confounding the minds of the viewers even more. At the moment, however, one of the burning questions that continue to cudgel the brains right now is: When will the third season of Yellowjackets premiere?
Here’s what we know so far about the same.
When was Yellowjackets officially renewed for a third season?
Showtime renewed the thriller series for a third season in December 2022, three months before the second season even premiered. Announcing the third season renewal, Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime and Paramount Media Networks told Deadline, “With Yellowjackets’ runaway success in Season 1 and the pent-up anticipation for Season 2, we wanted to maximize the momentum by fast-tracking Season 3 now. The show’s ambition is only exceeded by its execution, and I thank the incredible creative team behind it, including Ashley [Lyle], Bart [Nickerson], Jonathan [Lisco], eOne and the Showtime team, for turning this into such a success.”
The woods have a way of calling you back. #Yellowjackets is renewed for Season 3. pic.twitter.com/7e3LPzlBle
— Yellowjackets (@yellowjackets96) December 15, 2022
Pre-production on season 3 was scheduled to begin this May. Unfortunately, it did not kickstart owing to the ongoing Writers’ Guild of America strike on May 2, ’23. Co-creator Ashley Lyle shared a tweet updating the viewers regarding the cessation of all activities in the writers’ room for the upcoming season, held in solidarity with the strike. Per the reports, the strike is presumed to continue for at least a couple of months.
Lyle wrote, “Well, we had exactly one day in the #YellowJackets S3 writers’ room. It was amazing, and creatively invigorating, and so much fun, and I’m very excited to get back to it as soon as the #WGA gets a fair deal. #1u #unionstrong”
Well, we had exactly one day in the #YellowJackets S3 writers’ room. It was amazing, and creatively invigorating, and so much fun, and I’m very excited to get back to it as soon as the #WGA gets a fair deal. #1u #unionstrong ✊🐝
— Ashley Lyle (@ashannlyle) May 2, 2023
What can we expect to happen in Yellowjackets season 3?
The season 2 finale leaves the viewers with questions that make a plausible season 3 plot arc quite dubious. In the final scene, we see the teen characters lost in the wilderness, with no shelter when the log cabin catches fire from the outside. Upon realizing what happened to Javi, Coach Ben set the cabin in flames. In the wake of Javi’s death, Lottie announced Natalie as the leader, believing that the wilderness chose her.
In the present, Natalie’s death will certainly create indelible ripple effects on the group, especially on Misty, who now bears the burden of murdering two of her best friends. While Lottie was being taken away to a psychiatric hospital, she tells Tai and Van that the wilderness is happy with them. The upcoming season will plausibly showcase some positive effects occurring in their lives.
Towards the end, Shauna’s family is free after Walter framed Detective Kevyn for the deaths of Adam Martin and Jessica Roberts, as a result of his love for Misty. Although the Sadeckis find themselves out of peril, Callie is aware of her mother’s secrets. Season 4 four will presumably cover Callie embracing her dark urges, being the daughter of a murderer, or the “wilderness” urges her to.
In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Karyn Kusama, director and executive producer of the series, explained the fallout of the present-day plot arc and how the characters would be left with no choice but to face the brunt of whatever went down in the first two seasons.
Kusama said, “Certainly loss is going to be an initial kind of emotional glue, and the fallout from that. But I also suspect there’s a lot to explore about the real-world ramifications of the past two seasons. I think that’s going to get further addressed and further looked at. I think it’s going to be a question about how to bring everyone back together when it’s the right thing to do or makes sense narratively.”
Who are the cast members of Yellowjackets season 3?
Most of the core cast members are expected to reprise their roles including:
- Melanie Lynskey as Shauna
- Christina Ricci as Misty
- Tawny Cypress as Taissa
- Sophie Nélisse as teen Shauna
- Sophie Thatcher as teen Natalie
- Samantha Hanratty as teen Misty
- Jasmin Savoy Brown as teen Taissa
- Courtney Eaton as teen Lottie
- Liv Hewson as teen Van
- Kevin Alves as Travis
We also expect the following recurring or minor cast members to reprise their roles:
- Simone Kessel as Lottie
- Lauren Ambrose’s as Van
- Steven Krueger as Coach Ben
- Warren Kole as Jeff
- Sarah Desjardins as Callie
- John Reynolds as Detective Saracusa
- Elijah Wood as Walter
In an interview with THR, Sophie Thatcher expressed her excitement over Natalie becoming the next Antler Queen, mentioning that the new dynamic is “ultimately exciting.” She said :
“It was really exciting to see…this is probably why she is the [adult] Natalie we see. She’s gone through so much and now she’s taking on more guilt. She’s going to be carrying more guilt [as the group’s leader] and she’s going to continue this journey of self-destruction. But, I was happy to see such a shift. I think this is more juicy and more fun to play around with as an actor for future episodes.”
However, she did caution viewers regarding the downside of this transition, saying, “I think it will mess up the group dynamic no matter what.”
“I think the group is going to react terribly. I think there’s going to be tension between her and Shauna because Shauna obviously has endured so much and felt like she was the natural one to fall into that role. I think it’s just going to start more conflict. Not that things were going well, but they had a leader that people agreed on and now everything is thrown out of sorts. People don’t even like Natalie that much. They trust her, but she’s not giving them what Lottie was giving them,” she added.
Will there be Yellowjackets season 5?
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Lyle did reveal that the show was originally planned to last five seasons, and shared that the creative team is “still on track for that.” However, she later added that “there’s always room for things”, and that Yellowjackets does not belong to the likes of other shows that continue indefinitely.
She said, “We don’t really see this as being more than a five-season show. I think that there are shows that can go forever, but I think that when you’re telling such a deeply serialized story and it’s about these characters’ lives, you want to reach a satisfying conclusion and not just drag things out forever. This isn’t really one of those setups shows where it can go anywhere. So far, we’ve been really on track. Season 2 is largely what we always planned, but you do make a lot of discoveries along the way and so it’s always a little bit surprising.”