Sam Levinson’s hallucinatory high school drama was renewed for a third season back in 2022, but its future has been uncertain—until now.
Will the cast of Euphoria Season 2 return for Season 3?
Not everyone will. Back in August 2022, Barbie Ferreira announced that she wouldn’t be returning to reprise the role of Kat for the show’s third installment. “After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character, Kat, I’m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye,” she wrote in an Instagram Story alongside a photo of fan art by her “angel” co-star Hunter Schafer. “I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did, and that [it] brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today. I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it. Love you, Katherine Hernandez.”
Considering that her part was largely downgraded from main character to supporting act in Season 2, it wasn’t entirely a surprise. Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast in 2023, Ferreira said: “I don’t think there was a place for [Kat] to go. I think there were places she could have gone. I just don’t think it would have fit into the show. I don’t know if it was going to do her justice, and I think both parties knew that. I really wanted to be able to not be the fat best friend. I don’t want to play that, and I think they didn’t want that either. I feel like with Season 2 and certain parts of it… I felt was kind of a struggle for both parties. Sam, me… it was a struggle to find the continuation of her. So that was actually really hurtful watching it and seeing the fans get upset. I just felt like maybe it’s like I overstayed my welcome a little bit? So, for me, it actually felt good to be like, Okay, I get to not worry about this and we both don’t get to worry about this, because it’s exhausting. Sam writes for things that he relates to. I don’t think he relates to Kat.”
Then, in July 2023, Angus Cloud, who played the soulful, soft-spoken Fezco, died from an accidental overdose at 25. Tributes poured in from his co-stars and fans, the latter of whom were also left to wonder about the future of Cloud’s character: Fez memorably ended Season 2 (spoiler alert) with a dramatic shoot-out with the police, in which he was wounded and then arrested. His adopted brother, Ashtray, as played by Javon Walton, appeared to perish in the same scene.
Aside from these notable omissions, however, it’s expected that Euphoria’s other major players—Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Maude Apatow, Alexa Demie, Storm Reid, and Colman Domingo—will all be back.
When will production begin on Euphoria Season 3?
This is a question that’s been swirling for almost two years now. Production was set to begin in February 2023 before being progressively delayed, and then disrupted by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. In an interview in March 2024, Sydney Sweeney said that the show would be back in production soon. Her comments quickly went viral, after which she was more cautious when it came to speaking about the series. “Honestly, it’s like as scary as talking about Marvel,” she joked in a later interview. “I said one thing, and it went everywhere.” She wouldn’t confirm the date when filming was set to begin, and when asked if she’d seen any Season 3 scripts, said: “Maybe. I don’t know.”
Just two days later, HBO revealed that the Season 3 shoot had been put on hold. “HBO and Sam Levinson remain committed to making an exceptional third season,” a network spokesperson told Variety. “In the interim, we are allowing our in-demand cast to pursue other opportunities.” The scripts for the forthcoming installment were reportedly still being written, cast members weren’t released from their contracts, and the intention, by all accounts, still seemed to be to get the show back on screens by 2025.
When asked by Variety if she was surprised by the delay, Storm Reid said: “Yes and no. We would all hope to be able to go back tomorrow, but there are logistics that have to be figured out. So even though I’m a little disappointed, I’m not surprised. I would hope the viewers, the audience will be able to finish the show. I think we should handle the show with care. We’ve put our hearts and soul into it. I do know if we do go back that I am sure we will continue to be authentic and represent the real world.”
Then, on July 12, HBO finally shared an update: filming for Season 3 is scheduled to kick off in January 2025. Praise be.
What will happen in Euphoria Season 3?
So, what can we expect? Firstly, there is, of course, the matter of addressing the substantial gap between the seasons (Season 2 concluded in February 2022). It was reported that when Levinson proposed his vision for the third season to executives in the winter of 2023, it featured a time jump of five years. Rewrites were necessary as, according to sources, Angus Cloud’s Fez “figured heavily into the initial concept for the season.”
However, when revised scripts were submitted in late 2023 and early 2024, executives were apparently not convinced. Per Variety, “There was a new arc for Zendaya’s Rue, whose character in Levinson’s first pass had been relegated to the background in a somewhat surprising storyline about her working as a private detective, which HBO had immediately vetoed. Among many other ideas for the rewrites, Zendaya had pitched an idea in which Rue, who is now sober as a 20-something young woman, would be a pregnancy surrogate. But insiders say the new scripts simply didn’t feel like the show tonally.”