The Fourth Wing TV Show, Upcoming Books And Other Empyrean Series Things I Need To Talk About

Fourth Wing book cover
(Image credit: Red Tower Books)

If you're a fan of Fourth Wing, then odds are high that you're wondering when we're going to see a Fourth Wing movie or TV show adaptation of the popular books. It's the latter that's planned, and since I'm among the many who are extremely excited to see the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation, I’m keeping track of what we know about plans for the adaptation.

And because Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series is not complete, let’s also get into what we know about the upcoming Fourth Wing books, and what’s in store for fans of the excellent romantasy series.

What Is Fourth Wing About?

If you’ve read the books, feel free to skip this section. But for those of you unacquainted with Rebecca Yarros' novels Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm, this is an adult story that blends fantasy with some seriously spicy romance as it follows a young woman who begins training at a war college to become a dragon rider. There’s violence, drama, and no shortage of adventure and romance, along with plenty of awesome dragons.

The Fourth Wing TV Show Adaptation

Given the instant and massive popularity of the first Fourth Wing book, it was no surprise that a major streamer would snatch up the rights to adapt the story into a TV series. Per Variety in October 2023, the rights for the romantasy series (including several planned books) were acquired by Amazon and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society.

And then in July 2024, an Outlier Society Instagram post announced that Breaking Bad writer Moira Walley-Beckett had signed on as showrunner for the series. For reference, she won an Emmy Award for writing what many would consider to be one of the best episodes of Breaking Bad , "Ozymandias." So I’m feeling pretty confident that this series is in good hands, and I know I'll be making good use of my Amazon Prime subscription once it does arrive on our screens.

Fourth Wing TV Show Quick Facts

  • Amazon MGM and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society are adapting it.
  • Moira Walley-Beckett is the showrunner.
  • No Fourth Wing cast members have been announced, but Rebecca Yarros is confident that the series will honor the diversity of the cast.
  • No Fourth Wing TV show release date has been announced.
  • We don’t know yet when production will start.

Who Will Play Violet, Xaden And The Other Fourth Wing Characters?

This is the question of the hour, isn’t it? – well, that along with when will the Fourth Wing TV show premiere, when and where will it film, what will the dragons look like, what are the chances I can get my own dragon, and a bevy of other questions many Fourth Wing fans are surely asking. Alas, the answer to most of these questions right now is “we don’t know yet” (along with one “not very likely,” I’m sure.)

Fourth Wing merch

Fourth Wing dragon keychain from Barnes & Noble

(Image credit: Barnes & Noble)

Barnes & Noble has some fun Fourth Wing gift items, which you can view on their Empyrean Series page.

The announcement about the showrunner from July 2024 is the latest bit of solid news we have about the series adaptation. With that said, however, that’s a pretty substantial piece of information. In January 2025, when talking to Variety, Rebecca Yarros spoke positively about the versions of the pilot she read, and at that time she said that casting hadn't begun, so it's highly doubtful that we'd see it on the 2025 TV premiere schedule.

What Rebecca Yarros Has Said About The Casting

In 2024, The Popverse shared some quotes from Rebecca Yarros, who attended Emerald City Comic-Con 2024, including this one, where she speaks enthusiastically about what’s planned for the series, and also offers some assurance that the show wont whitewash the diverse cast depicted in her books:

I’m really glad that it ended up with Amazon and Outlier Society, which is Michael B. Jordan's production team. They are incredible: They're very protective of the source material. They're absolutely wonderful. They're in constant contact, and I can't say enough great things about them. And they had, they have a great diversity and inclusion rider [in their contracts], so I know that they'll honor the diversity in the cast and we're not gonna see it whitewashed.

Well, that certainly is encouraging, as is the tone of optimism in her words that the series is in good hands.

The Fourth Wing Books In Order (So Far)

There are three published books in the Fourth Wing/Empyrean series, with two more books expected.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
The Empyrean Book Series In Order

Book title

Where To Buy It

Fourth Wing (2023)

Get Fourth Wing on Amazon.

Iron Flame (2023)

Get Iron Flame on Amazon.

Onyx Storm (2025)

Get Onyx Storm at Amazon.

What's Coming Up For The Empyrean Series

There are expected to be more Fourth Wing sequels after Onyx Storm, which was the third book to release for the series.

When speaking to Today in June 2023, Rebecca Yarros confirmed that the Empyrean series is being planned as a five-part story:

The books are fully plotted for five books. The whole series is plotted out and arced and all of that.

It’s exciting (and as a fan, fairly comforting) to know that Yarros has already mapped out the story, especially factoring in how massively popular this series has gotten since the first book was published. Yarros went on to say:

I think it really deals with the theme of history: Who's allowed to tell our history, and what happens when only people in power are the ones who record our history.

The topic of how history is written is definitely something the first book touches on, and it’s not at all surprising to hear that it’s part of the overall theme of the story the author is telling.

From what Yarros mentioned about the planned 5-book arc in her more recent (January 2025) interview with Variety, it sounds like she's still hoping to stay on track to fit the rest of the story into the final two books. When asked about how much of the books she's shared with Amazon and Moira Walley-Beckett for planning for the Fourth Wing TV show, Yarros said:

So they have the five-book arc, which went a little awry in Book 3 just because the positioning, but they already know that. But they have the five-book arc and the general big points of what happens in between each book, but they don’t have the specifics between Book 4 and Book 5, because I’m getting ready to go to my crazy plotting board and and plot out every single event that happens in each book, so that I make sure that I’m within my two books there. But they have general ideas. And Moira is great. She’s phenomenal.

What Is Fourth Wing Book 4's Release Date?

Fourth Wing Book 4 doesn't have a release date, nor has the title been announced. In April 2025, Yarros shared a celebratory post on Instagram about submitting the first draft of a Fourth Wing graphic novel. In her message, she addressed Book 4 after explaining that she'd be working on another contemporary (presumably romance) while she awaits edits for the graphic novel, and adding:

No, book 4 isn’t up next (contracts are contracts, peeps), but completing this project means I’m one step closer to putting it on the plot board! And don’t worry, being back in the Empyrean world has sparked ALL KINDS of fun plot ideas! ❤️

So it seems Book 4 is in the queue to be worked on, but she has other projects in the works ahead of it. She's a busy author, which is a good thing for fans of her work, no doubt!

We'll be sure to update you on the latest developments for the Fourth Wing TV show and plans for whatever might be ahead with future books once we hear it. In the meantime, Amazon already has no shortage of great original shows to check out.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly put her life-long love of movies, TV and books to greater use when she joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006, and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before joining the staff full-time in 2011 and moving over to other roles at the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing features, analyzing site data, working with writers and editors on content planning and the workflow, and (of course) continuing to obsess over the best movies and TV shows (those that already exist, and the many on the way). She graduated from SUNY Cortland with BA in Communication Studies and a minor in Cinema Studies. When she isn't working, she's probably thinking about work, or reading (or listening to a book), and making sure her cats are living their absolute best feline lives.

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