With its stable of young, increasingly popular stars, an iconoclastic creator in Sam Levinson , and grueling shoots, Euphoria is a uniquely challenging series to make. It’s why the HBO hit, which has made actors like Sydney Sweeney and Jacob Elordi household names and affirmed the high-wattage power of Zendaya, has no clear release date for its third season. The second season ended in February 2022, and since then there’s been little clarity on when the polarizing teen drama will return, and what the plot could look like going forwards.
The status of the third season is unclear, but Levinson just offered a tantalizing new tease tucked into a comment he provided as a a secondary interview for Zendaya’s new Elle cover. While raving about Zendaya, who has won two Emmys for her work on the series, Levinson revealed that the next season will be a “film noir” with Zendaya’s Rue as the lens to “explore what it means to be an individual with principles in a corrupt world.”
“She’s the most competitive person I know, in a good way,” Levinson told Elle of Zendaya. “She’s constantly growing as an artist and always seeking a challenge. She’s never complacent.”
Zendaya herself, along with Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, and Maude Apatow, spoke about the show at a December 2022 awards panel. Sweeney stressed that her character Cassie was “looking for a family in everyone else,” and that theme was likely to continue in the third season. Apatow said Lexi will be looking to move past her negative thoughts and self-image to create a more positive identity, while Schafer explained that Jules continues to seek love in imperfect, sometimes destructive and dangerous situations. “Each of these characters have their own vice in a way, and I think the product of Jules’ vice that she’s looking for is closeness with other people and feeling affirmed in that closeness without any judgment or real connection and safety in that connection,” she said.
Zendaya said she hoped Rue, who has consistently been through some of the most harrowing situations of any Euphoria character, would be able to find “a little bit of happiness and a little bit of joy.” She also explained that her character is based off of Levinson’s own life, and that he was able to overcome his addictions to find fulfillment. “He’s proof that there is hope for Rue and anyone like Rue.”
It’s unclear how the tragic passing of actor Angus Cloud will affect production, though the loss will clearly change plans for Season 3, and the creative team may not want to rush into production in order to give the cast and crew proper time to grieve. After Cloud’s sudden death in late July, Schafer, Zendaya, and others shared moving words about their friend and peer via social media. (There was a particularly moving post from Apatow, whose character had a burgeoning relationship with Cloud’s Fezco that was a highlight of the second season.)
Several key members of the supporting cast are due back to return, though their investment seems varied. Last September, Colman Domingo told Deadline about “some really deep conversations” he had with Levinson, and that he’s excited for the “really big swings” the show is likely to take. In a July 2023 Los Angeles Times interview, Dominic Fike seemed unenthused about reprising his role as Elliot in the next season. Speaking to ScreenRant in January, Storm Reid, who plays Rue’s younger sister, confirmed she’d be back as Gia, and echoed Zendaya’s sentiment about hoping the members of the Bennett family experience some more positivity.
In an April 2023 interview on the Armchair Expert podcast, Barbie Ferreira reaffirmed that she would not be involved in the third season, though she took pains to downplay the rumored behind-the-scenes dysfunction. “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,” she said. Ferreira did acknowledge that making the second season “was a kind of a struggle for both parties,” in reference to both herself and Levinson.
Costume designer Heidi Bevins told Vogue she was looking to “take a bigger creative role” on the show due to her interest in directing. She also dropped a bomb about a potential time-jump saying, “There is talk of it being approximately five years in the future, and that they’re not in high school anymore.”
As for the potential air date of Season 3—it’s going to be a while. The shooting process of the show is rigorous, with some episodes taking as long as a month to film. Speaking to Deadline in late May, HBO’s Francesca Orsi said that shooting was a ways away, affected by the writer’s strike as well as Levinson’s work on The Idol.
“Euphoria is one of those that we had begun writing in tandem with post-production on Idol but at this point, we don’t have countless scripts,” Orsi explained. “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 Idol.” A Rolling Stone piece about The Idol claimed that the third season of Euphoria would cost “at least $110 million,” which is exorbitant, but certainly not unheard of for HBO.
Between the first and second seasons, Euphoria did release a pair of well-regarded special episodes, so hopefully we’ll get those to tide the fanbase over before Season 3 proper.