Atlanta Season 3: 6 Quick Things We Know About The Donald Glover Series

Donald Glover and Lakeith Stanfield in Atlanta.
(Image credit: FX)

A couple years back, actor and musician Donald Glover came out with a comedy-drama that captured people’s hearts, made them laugh, and taught valuable lessons along the way - and that series was Atlanta. The first season premiered in 2016, and the second in 2017, but where exactly is the third season of this popular FX series? When is Atlanta Season 3 going to come out?

From who is coming back for the anticipated season, to what we know about the plot, here are some quick things we know about Atlanta Season 3.

The main characters of Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

Atlanta Season 3 Premieres At The End Of March, 2022  

For a while, it was a bit unknown when Season 3 of Atlanta could come out, but as of late, we finally know exactly when the hit show is ready to return to FX, and that is March 24, 2022, according to Variety.

This news was announced in December 2021 that the show would return at 10 p.m. on that date with two new episodes, airing back to back. Since then, several teaser trailers have come out that feature all of our main characters, and it looks like this season will be packed with plenty of awesome storylines. 

After a three-year-long hiatus since the last episodes, fans can look forward to this show being a part of the 2022 TV premiere schedule, and seeing our faves come back to the screen once more. 

Earn and Van in Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

Atlanta Season 3 Has Finished Filming

Back in April of 2021, it was revealed that Season 3 of Atlanta had begun shooting when Donald Glover posted to his Instagram page a picture of him with his fellow cast-mates, getting fans excited for the new season.

But, as of mid-August 2021, Season 3 has finished filming, according to an interview that John Landgraf, the chief of FX, did with The Wrap.

Donald Glover in Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

Atlanta Season 3 Filmed Back-To-Back With Atlanta Season 4 

While Atlanta Season 3 has finished filming and is set to premiere sometime in the first half of 2022, Season 4 is actually currently being filmed. Earlier in 2021, Deadline originally reported that Season 3 and 4 were going to be filmed back to back, but a new update has shown that this is still the case despite COVID-19 pushbacks and delays.

Per The Wrap article, John Landgraf confirmed that as of August 2021, Season 4 of Atlanta was in production 

It has finished shooting. It shot primarily in Europe, actually, and it’s in post-production. But it is a lengthy post-production process on that. And part of the reason it’s like this is because they’re actually in production right now on Season 4 in Atlanta. And all of the scripts for Season 4 have been written.

Zazie Beetz, who plays Vanessa on Atlanta, also confirmed that Season 4 was in production around that time, during an August 2021 interview on Desus & Mero.

We finished Season 3, which we did in Europe, and now we’re doing Season 4 - we’re a week into shooting, so we just started.

This is exciting news, because hopefully with two seasons being filmed at the same time, we might get Season 4 a little bit quicker than we’ve received Season 3 - as long as there are no production delays. Let’s all pray that we get to see our favorite cast members soon enough.

Earn and Van on Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

The Main Stars Of Atlanta Are All Returning  

It wouldn’t be Atlanta if the stars didn’t come back to star in the third season. Thankfully, it looks like the four main cast members who have made Atlanta what it is will be returning for both Season 3 and Season 4, according to the same Instagram post from Donald Glover before on the first day of filming.

This photo included Glover as the lead character, Earn Marks, Brian Tyree Henry as Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles, who's had plenty success lately with a role in the Vivo cast, Zazie Beetz as Vanessa Keefer, and Lakeith Stanfield as Darius Epps.

We have even more confirmation that they will be back with new teasers that have consistently been released on YouTube from FX, specifically “Visitors,” where we see all four cast members in new scenes from the show. 

Van in Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

The Atlanta Cast Is Happy To Be Back Filming

With how long it has taken for filming to begin on Atlanta since it was delayed last year due to COVID-19, it’s always exciting when the cast and crew are happy to return to the show they love.

Brian Tyree Henry made an appearance on the Late Late Show with James Cordon in April 2021 to talk about filming the show again and how eager he is to be back.

You know, we haven’t shot together in almost three years, so all of us have gone and branched off and done our own things, but we’ve always stayed in touch. Like nonstop, we check in on one another. But to finally be back together, and to be back in the shoes of these characters, it just completely - it’s like a weird ‘Twilight Zone’ episode, because you’re like like, ‘Do I still remember what Alfred went through?’ You’re just finding it out together.

Zazie Beetz also opened up about returning to the show per her interview with Desus and Mero in August 2021, and how nice it feels to return back to the series that brought her and her co-stars together.

It's special to me that we all grew up in it together. Our careers, for all of us, really changed and we all share that, so we have that bond. So going back and shooting was really nice.

It’s always sweet to hear the cast of the show so happy to be back and filming, so that will make fans of the series even more excited. 

Donald Glover in Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

Donald Glover Hopes Season 3 Of Atlanta Will Be The Most Enjoyable Season

According to IndieWire back in 2018, during an Emmys FYC screening and panel for the show, Atlanta creator Donald Glover said that the third season of Atlanta was going to be a bit more enjoyable than the last.

I align the seasons I think, to me, like Kanye records. I feel like this is our ‘Graduation.’ This is probably our most accessible but also the realest — an honest version of it — and I feel like the most enjoyable, like the third album.

Atlanta Season 2 definitely didn’t stray from talking about serious topics that not only brought good comedy, but great stories as well, from Darius’ brush with death to the relationship status of Earn and Vanessa. While this interview was done in 2018, we can only hope that Glover's words still ring true and Season 3 is going to be filled with a more enjoyment.

Hopefully, with Earn, Paper Boi and Darius all going on tour in Europe, we might get some hijinks between the main crew - along with the serious stories I believe we’ve all come to like.

Some of the main cast in one of the new teasers for Atlanta Season 3.

(Image credit: FX)

Watch The New Atlanta Teasers

While I’ve already highlighted one of the teasers from FX that I particularly like, many of the clips for the show have come out that feature interesting-looking storylines, cryptic messages, and more. 

If you want to see what Season 3 of Atlanta might have to offer, be sure to head to the FX YouTube channel to view more of them. Each one is wild while featuring on all the characters that we all know and love. 

Some of the main cast of Atlanta.

(Image credit: FX)

Stream Atlanta On Hulu

If you’re feeling the need to catch up on Atlanta before Season 3 comes out, check it out Hulu and stream the first two seasons now.

Stream Atlanta on Hulu.

From the best Atlanta episodes to some of the funniest jokes, this FX dramedy needs to come out with Season 3 soon. Now all it is is a waiting game to see our favorite characters back on TV again. Now, all I need is for Paper Boi to come out with some new music.

Alexandra Ramos
Content Producer

A self-proclaimed nerd and lover of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, Alexandra Ramos is a Content Producer at CinemaBlend. She first started off working in December 2020 as a Freelance Writer after graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in English. She primarily works in features for movies, TV, and sometimes video games. (Please don't debate her on The Last of Us 2, it was amazing!) She is also the main person who runs both our daily newsletter, The CinemaBlend Daily, and our ReelBlend newsletter.