Yellowjackets Season 3 is coming, and we are so excited to talk about what we know – including when it’ll release as part of the 2025 TV schedule.
The series follows two time periods -- in the past, it follows a high school soccer team on a plane that crash lands in the Canadian wilderness, and how they have to find a way to survive the winter. In the present, someone who knows all of their secrets from their time in the forest threatens to release them to the public, and they must find a way to stop them.
Now, Yellowjackets Season 3 is coming. Here is what we know.
What Is The Yellowjackets Season 3 Premiere Date?
As of updating this in December 2024, Yellowjackets Season 3 will premiere on February 14, 2025, according to Showtime. Talk about a Valentine’s Day gift, huh?
The Yellowjackets Season 3 Cast
Thanks to filming updates and plenty of social media posts from stars, as well as a first look from Entertainment Weekly in November 2024, we know that most of the Yellowjackets cast will return, including:
- Melanie Lynskey as adult Shauna Shipman
- Sophie Nélisse as teenage Shauna Shipman
- Tawny Cypress as adult Taissa Turner
- Jasmin Savoy Brown as teenage Taissa Turner
- Steven Krueger as Coach Ben
- Christina Ricci as adult Misty Quigley
- Samantha Hanratty as teenage Misty Quigley
- Sophie Thatcher as teenage Natalie Scatorccio
- Simone Kessell as adult Lottie Matthews
- Courtney Eaton as teenage Lottie Matthews
- Lauren Ambrose as adult Van Palmer
- Liv Hewson as teenage Van Palmer
Plenty of the cast did post pictures of them filming on set – such as Christina Ricci teasing her costume for Season 3 on her Instagram Stories (via Nexus Point), and several cast members appearing in an official Instagram post from the Yellowjackets Instagram page in May 2024 – including Elijah Wood:
The one person we’re sure is not coming back (at least for a main role) in Season 3 is Juliette Lewis, who played the adult Natalie, as she was killed in the Yellowjackets Season 2 finale twist. Lewis even confirmed her time playing the character in a leading role capacity had come to an end in a post on Instagram in May 2023:
She could come back in some guest star capacity, as Ella Purnell did with Jackie in Season 2, despite her character being dead, but we don’t know that for sure right now.
What Is Yellowjackets Season 3 Story?
After that intense Season 2 finale, there is plenty that we know about Yellowjackets Season 3. Here are some moments you can look out for in the upcoming season:
Season 3 Will Be Like “A Meltdown” In Comparison To Last Season
We do know that it’s going to be a lot more intense than the last two seasons. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in January 2024, Samantha Hanratty (young Misty) commented that Season 3 is going to be like a “meltdown:”
Season 1 was chaotic and messy. Season 2 was still and cold and dark and it was winter and then [season 3] feels like it’s gonna be the meltdown. We’re gonna see the melting of, like, what these people are.
Christina Ricci (who plays older Misty) also commented on the “brutalness” of the upcoming third season in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter:
It’s definitely going to be brutal. But they also put a lot of comedy into it. So I think it’s just going to be… extremely Yellowjackets-y.
At least there will be some comedy – but I’m prepared to be shocked as always.
Misty Is “Not OK” After The Season 2 Finale
For those who don’t remember what Misty did in the intense Yellowjackets Season 2 finale, Misty mistakenly killed Natalie when she was trying to inject Lisa with phenobarbital. Natalie, however, jumped in front of her and took it. This, in turn, will lead to a lot of conflict and pain for Misty, according to Christina Ricci.
In an interview with The Wrap in May 2023, Ricci was quick to confirm that Misty is “not OK” after what happened to Natalie:
The last time we see her, she’s sobbing into Walter’s arms. So I don’t think that she’s OK.
In that special first look from Entertainment Weekly, the co-creator of the show, Ashley Lyle, commented that Misty is going to be taking the death the hardest, but that everyone will be feeling it next season:
Natalie's death certainly impacts Misty emotionally the most, but I think that the reverberations of it are felt by all of them.
Coach Ben Is Getting Scared By The Girls In Season 3 – Namely Natalie
Something else that fans saw in Season 2 of Yellowjackets was Coach Ben and how he’s finally starting to come around to how dangerous the girls are by the end of Season 2. He’s so spooked that he makes a run for it when their cabin goes up in flames at the end of the season.
Sophie Thatcher, who plays young Natalie, actually had the chance to speak about Coach Ben and his dynamic with Natalie in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in May 2023, and how it’s going to change in Season 3 thanks to what he’s seeing and how he’s starting to be scared of her:
I’m so curious about their dynamic! Because they used to be the two outcasts and the point of connection. They only had each other. And he’s scared of her now. Or, is beginning to be. You see that shift. After that scene, she’s looking through a different lens. She has a different viewpoint, and he sees that very immediately.
There Will Be A Time Jump
Okay, so maybe it won’t be a huge time jump, but in the special first look from Entertainment Weekly, Lyle confirmed that some time has passed between Seasons 2 and 3 – in both time periods of the show:
There's a little bit of a time jump in both timelines.
For those who don’t recall, in the ‘90s timeline, the girl’s shelter just burned down, so I can imagine that we’re going to see a whole different side of them if time has passed. Lyle also commented that during this time jump, tensions will be even higher, especially now that young Shauna thought she would be named the leader but Lottie decided to pick Natalie:
What we see is a continuation of some of the tensions and resentments that were building in season 2. And those really play a large part in how the girls continue to interact this season.
Van And Taissa’s Relationship Will Be Explored More
If you were hoping that we’d be able to see more of Van and Taissa as adults, you’re in luck. When Lyle spoke to Entertainment Weekly, she said that there will be a lot more about them as adults that we’re going to see, including them trying to recapture that spark from when they were stuck in those woods:
One of the things that we have always been trying to play with, but maybe this season even more so is that, as a result of a lot of their experiences, they've obviously put a lot of terrible stuff away, but they're also trying to recapture some of the best of themselves from that time, too. Some of that will be explored through that relationship.
This relationship has been through quite literally everything, so I’m eager to see where this goes.
Expect A Lot More Cannibalism
In any other show, that might be a cause for concern, but we’ve known since the beginning of Yellowjackets that these girls had to resort to drastic measures in order to survive, and now, Lyle confirmed in that Entertainment Weekly first look that it will be a much bigger thing in Season 3 because they already dived into that idea in Season 2:
Definitely buckle up this season. The cannibalism cat is out of the bag.
Oh joy; can’t wait to be scarred for life with that.
The Showrunners Plan Is For The Show To Go For Five Seasons
Season 3 hopefully won't be the end, at least based on what was said by the showrunners of Yellowjackets. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in March 2023, Ashley Lyle said that the plan is for Yellowjackets to be a five-season show:
The original plan was about five seasons, and we feel like we're still on track for that…we don't really see this as being more than a five-season show. I think that there are shows that can go forever, but I think that when you're telling such a deeply serialized story and it's about these characters' lives, you want to reach a satisfying conclusion and not just drag things out forever. This isn't really one of those setup shows where it can go anywhere. So far, we've been really on track. Season 2 is largely what we always planned, but you do make a lot of discoveries along the way and so it's always a little bit surprising.
This interview was done in March 2023, as Season 2 was premiering, and after it had already been confirmed for a Season 3. So, five seasons of drama and intensity? Sign me up. Here's hoping the show is renewed for another season after this next one.
Filming Has Supposedly Finished
Filming for Season 3 began in May 2024. At the end of September 2024, Samantha Hanratty posted on TikTok that the cast was coming to the end of filming. Considering several first looks have been revealed, and a premiere date is set, I’m expecting that filming overall has come to an end. Now, all we’re waiting for is a trailer.
Yellowjackets has undoubtedly made its name known for being one of the best Showtime shows, and I have a feeling it’ll only continue to improve as time goes on. Season 3 is only a few months away now. I can’t wait.
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