Two years ago, the season two finale of Euphoria went out all guns blazing. There was the showdown between Maddy and Cassie after that ill-advised hook-up with Maddy’s ex, Nate. Nate’s dad Cal was finally arrested for being a sexual abuser, and then there was the massive police shootout over at Fez’s, killing his little bro, Ashtray. It was a lot of drama, and it left fans desperate for news of season three.
Since then, we’ve been waiting patiently about when the next instalment of the controversial teen drama would arrive, but it has been plagued by difficulties. And now, a HBO Max boss has suggested that the third series may not even be set in high school and will time-jump into the future. Here’s everything we know so far:
When is Euphoria series three out?
While we had hoped to return to East Highland in 2025, it’s now looking unlikely that we'll see anything before 2026.
In May 2023, HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi confirmed that the show was expected to return said “ideally in 2025”. She told Deadline: “Euphoria is one of those that we had begun writing in tandem with post-production on The Idol but at this point, we don't have countless scripts. We can't start shooting, so the delivery of that show – ideally in 2025 – will be determined on when we can pick back up with Sam, who at this point is all pencils down and just finishing posts on The Idol.”
But in March 2024, Variety reported that the shoot was delayed, after rumours began circulating that the entire season had been scrapped.
“HBO and Sam Levinson remain committed to making an exceptional third season,” an HBO spokesperson told Variety. “In the interim, we are allowing our in-demand cast to pursue other opportunities.” The publication added that the scripts for the third series "are still being written".
However, there was more bad news for fans in July 2024, when it was announced that filming wouldn't even begin until January 2025, meaning that the finished product was an even longer way off, most probably 2026.
Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO programming and head of HBO drama series and films said in a statement: "I am thrilled that we are ready to begin production on Euphoria in January. We could not be happier with our creative partnership with Sam and this incredible cast. We look forward to bringing this new season of Euphoria to life for the fans."
Who is in the cast for Euphoria season 3?
Tragically, one person who won’t be returning is the late actor Angus Cloud, who played the benevolent drug dealer, Fez. Cloud died of a multiple drug overdose in July 2023 and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson released a statement at the time saying: “There was no one quite like Angus. He was too special, too talented and way too young to leave us so soon. He also struggled, like many of us, with addiction and depression. I hope he knew how many hearts he touched. I loved him. I always will. Rest in peace and God Bless his family.”
It’s highly unlikely we’ll see Javon Walton as Ashtray, Fez’s little brother, as the character was shot, presumably dead in the police shoot-out in the final episode of series three.
Zendaya will be back as Rue, as will Hunter Schafer (Jules), Jacob Elordi (Nate), Alexa Demie (Maddy), Sydney Sweeney (Cassie), Maude Apatow (Lexi) and Storm Reid (Rue’s sister, Gia). Also expected are Nika King (Leslie), Austin Abrams (Ethan), Colman Domingo (Ali) and Dominic Fike (Elliot).
Still, how much longer can the main cast convincingly portray high schoolers? It's an issue that Elordi touched upon in his interview on The Tonight Show in January, when he told host Jimmy Fallon: “I hope it’s soon, or they’re going to have to Benjamin Button me or something. I’m going to have a bad back walking down the hallway, you know?”
According to Elordi, one A-list fan is waiting with bated breath. “The biggest one is Leonardo DiCaprio, which sounds like a crazy name-drop,” he told Fallon. "He came up to me in a club one time when I was sort of much younger. So we’re in this club, and there’s really loud music and everything. And he’s like, ‘The shot in the first season, you know, the shot where you came in’. And it’s him and I in the middle of this club, just... talking about camera angles.”
In a recent interview with Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, Dominic Fike opened up about the chances of appearing in the new series, saying it “would be dope” but that “I don’t really talk to them anymore”. He also talked about his struggles with playing a drug addict on screen, describing himself as "a pretty big drug addict myself, believe it or not.
"When I was on Euphoria, they kind of just gave me a coach who would just talk to you. It was just some random lady," he went on to say. "A random lady that i’d never relate to. We had nothing in common. We didn’t come from the same places or the same problems. It was hard to take advice from someone like that or give a shit.”
What happens in Euphoria series three?
Well, it could go anywhere really, but expect it to be gritty, edgy and dark, once again.
At the end of the last episode in series two, Rue tells us: “I stayed clean through the rest of the school year”, which suggests that she falls back into her drug habit. Whether her relationship with best friend/ex-girlfriend Jules can be repaired is also likely to feature heavily.
Will Cassie and Maddy make up after Cassie started shagging her best mate's former boyfriend, Nate? It’s not totally off the cards, although Maddy warned her: “Don’t worry, this is just the beginning” – the beginning of a revenge campaign from Maddy against Cassie, or was she referring to how Nate is going to treat Cassie, after cruelly dumping her?
Speaking of Nate, after shopping his sexual predator dad, Cal, to the police, we’ll likely find out the impact that will have on the family. Cal, played by Eric Dane, confirmed that he would be back for season 3, telling Variety: “There's gonna be redemption. That's the trajectory he's on. I can't imagine Cal's life from solitary confinement. It's tough to work Cal into the storyline when he's behind bars.”
But chatting with Variety in August, Eric Dane said that he had spoken with Levinson about Cal's future: "The first thing I said to Sam when we wrapped Season 2 was, ‘I don’t want to be behind bars. So I’m almost 100% certain that I’m not behind bars…Anything else that follows I’m fine with.” He added of the troubled production: "I love working with Sam Levinson. I have a great time. HBO is supportive in allowing us to do whatever the fuck we want to do."
Also of interest in the Jacobs family is the missing third brother. In the first series, viewers spotted the Jacobs family photograph, showing Cal, Marsha, Nate, Nate’s brother Jason and a mystery third son who we’ve yet to see on screen.
Speaking with Variety in June 2024, HBO Max CEO Casey Bloys gave a revealing update: “Sam [Levinson] is working on it. There’s been a lot of back and forth… One of the issues I think that Sam is thinking about is that he doesn’t want to have it in high school anymore. That’s where it was set and what made sense then. So when you take it out of that, there’s a lot of back and forth about where to set it and how far in the future to set it and all that stuff. But I think he’s got a take that he’s excited about, and he’s busy writing.” Bloys also confirmed that despite massive breakouts for Zendaya, Elordi and Sweeney, that the old gang would return: “It’s the same core cast.”
Going into detail on his approach to the new series, Levinson likened his plans to a “film noir” focusing on Rue as she “explores what it means to be an individual with principles in a corrupt world”. Which could just about take her character anywhere, really.
In March 2024, however, we learned what season three wouldn't be about. As per Variety, a number of ideas were given thumbs down by the network including: "a new arc for Zendaya’s Rue... 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 twentysomething young woman, would be a pregnancy surrogate. But insiders say the new scripts simply didn’t feel like the show tonally."
Hunter Schafer – who plays Jules – sounds equally confused as to the series' future. Appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast in August, she said: “The real tea is I have no fucking idea what’s going on, and you can ask literally all of the cast...I think everyone feels a certain sense of anticipation for if we are supposed to do Season 3. Obviously I’m still coming to qualms about what’s happened and losing people that we really loved and were a part of this family and everything. If we do go back, that’s going to be tough.”
The publication also noted that Levinson "was taking another swing at the material", adding that the network didn't want another situation like The Idol, which went into production without scripts that everyone was happy with. It was deemed "a troubled project... a creative disaster and a costly vanity project for HBO", and one that they don't want to repeat with the third season of Euphoria.
Where can I watch Euphoria series three?
Euphoria will air on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Max in the US and on Binge in Australia.
