Zendaya Says She’s ‘Not in Charge’ of ‘Euphoria’ Season 3 and Doesn’t Know If It Will Be Made
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Just when we thought Euphoria couldn’t get more intense, season 2 opened with Fezco’s grandmother shooting his abusive father in both legs. A gentle way to launch the sophomore chapter of your teen drama, Sam Levinson! Of course, knowing the tangled path Euphoria has weaved in episodes past—drugs, sex, betrayal, memes—it’d come as no surprise if the coming season 3 ups the stakes even higher.
Plot points aside, Euphoria’s second chapter, which arrived in early 2022, brought us more beautiful cinematography and Labrinth’s tear-inducing soundtrack. We were also treated to astounding performances by Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, and Nika King, all of whom showed more vulnerability than ever this season. The drama is undoubtedly one of HBO’s most popular series, and despite critics’s vocal judgment of the show’s graphic content—and inconsistent plot—fans and haters alike couldn’t help but tune in every Sunday. (Viewership for the second season was nearly double that of the first, Variety reported). Thus, it’s no shocker that before the second season ended, Euphoria was already renewed for a third.
“Sam, Zendaya, and the entire cast and crew of Euphoria have taken season 2 to extraordinary heights, challenging narrative convention and form, while maintaining its heart,” Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming, said in a statement when the renewal was announced. “We couldn’t be more honored to work with this gifted, wildly talented team or more excited to continue our journey with them into season 3.”
So, what’s next for the teens of Euphoria High? Here are all of your season 3 questions, answered.
When will season 3 premiere?
Euphoria is scheduled to return in 2025, HBO and Max’s Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys announced during a November 2023 presentation to press. The network later confirmed the news in December while sharing a sizzle reel of upcoming releases. No other announcements have been made yet.
Fans aren’t exactly thrilled to wait years for more Euphoria episodes. But after the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes and the tragic death of actor Angus Cloud, who played beloved character Fez, the cast and crew have been forced to alter plans. On March 25, 2024, HBO confirmed to Variety that season 3 had once again been delayed, and that the scripts are still being written. “HBO and Sam Levinson remain committed to making an exceptional third season,” a spokesperson shared. “In the interim, we are allowing our in-demand cast to pursue other opportunities.”
Who will be in the cast?
We can likely expect to see series regulars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Maude Apatow, Nika King, Storm Reid, and Austin Abrams again, but we’ll have to wait for official confirmation from HBO. As for season 2 newcomers Dominic Fike and Chloe Cherry, there’s no word yet if they’ll be back.
Barbie Ferreira, however, will not return to play Kat. She announced her departure from Euphoria on Aug. 24, 2022, with a photo of fan art of her character drawn by her co-star, Hunter Schafer.
“After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character Kat, I’m having to say a very teary-eyed goodbye,” Ferreira wrote. “I hope many of you could see yourself in her like I did and that she brought you joy to see her journey into the character she is today. I put all my care and love into her and I hope you guys could feel it. Love you Katherine Hernandez.”
After the death of Cloud in July 2023, it remains to be seen how Euphoria season 3 will handle the remaining story arc of Fezco. On Aug. 2, 2023, Apatow—who plays Lexi, Fezco’s love interest—posted a tribute to Cloud on Instagram, writing, “Angus was the funniest person ever. I would get so excited to see on the schedule that we would be working together because I knew we’d have the best day, laughing so hard. He was the sweetest and made everyone around him so happy. He was just the best. Words can’t really capture how magical of a person he was. My heart is broken. Angus, getting to know and work with you was one of the greatest joys and blessings of my life. I will love you forever. ❤️”
During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon asked Elordi about his future appearance on the show and what to expect, but he didn't seem to know much either—except that, at 26 years old, it’s getting hard to portray a high school student.
“I hope it’s soon, or they’re going to have to Benjamin Button me or something,” he joked. “I’m going to have a bad back walking down the hallway, you know?”
He added, “I’m assuming that we’ll have to go forward, otherwise it’s going to seem like a weird bit.”
The fate of Euphoria still appears to remain unknown. At the Los Angeles premiere of her upcoming film Challengers, Zendaya told Variety that, despite being an executive producer on the show, she is in the dark about season 3.
Zendaya admitted, “I don’t know. I’m not in charge.”
“But you want it?” a Variety reporter asked her.
“If it’s right for the characters and everything turns out the way it should, of course. But it’s beyond me,” she answered.
What will season 3 be about?
As Levinson revealed to ELLE in a September 2023 cover story featuring Zendaya, the director sees Euphoria’s third chapter as a “film noir,” and that Rue’s storyline will “explore what it means to be an individual with principles in a corrupt world.”
Expect other “big swings” in season 3, according to Colman Domingo, who chatted with Deadline after his Emmy win for his guest role in season 2. “It’s an organism, and [Levinson] wants it to keep shifting it in many ways and I think he’s going to take some really big swings actually with season 3,” the actor said. “He’s someone who, once there’s an expectation of the show, he wants to smash that expectation because he truly is a consummate artist, and he wants to make sure he’s telling some really compelling storytelling. And just because we had some successes before with this season, he said, ‘Let’s not rely on that. Let’s move forward. I’m going to go deeper with these characters. I’m going to really peel away the layers of them and just get to the human heart.’”
Euphoria will have numerous questions to answer next season after that season 2 finale showdown. Maddy gets her revenge by fighting Cassie during Lexi’s play, but what comes after that? All we see is Maddie giving her former best friend some well-needed advice. (Same applies to Kat, who was seemingly pushed aside this season.) As for Cassie herself, she’s all alone after being dumped by Nate, her friends, and even her family. Hopefully, we’ll see some humility from her soon.
We can also hope for an update on Rue and Jules’ friendship. The friends-turned-lovers ended their romance when Jules told Rue’s mother about her drug use. Although the pair briefly spoke at the end of Lexi’s play, they’re still not entirely reunited as friends or as lovers. But maybe that’s for the best, given the money Rue owes Laurie (Martha Kelly).
King, who plays Rue’s mother, Leslie, thinks there could be room to explore the character’s backstory. She told Entertainment Weekly, “Season 3, I’m hoping to see maybe a little more backstory, like where does she work? We never had that conversation. I know in my head where she works; she’s got multiple jobs. But I think it’ll be fun to see where she comes from.”
While it’s still unclear if Cherry will appear in season 3, she’s also shared her hopes for where Faye’s story could go next, such as bonding with Rue. “I think Faye has a story of addiction to tell as Rue does; even though it’s different, I think that they could learn something from each other,” she told Variety. “I also think Rue is a non-judgmental character, and I think that is all Faye needs. I think if they got closer, they would get along because they have these shared experiences and they are both chill girls in spite of it.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Zendaya said that, as a producer, she’d like to see a time jump for the characters in a future season. “I think it’ll be exciting to explore the characters out of high school,” she said. “I want to see what Rue looks like in her sobriety journey, how chaotic that might look. But also with all the characters, in the sense where they’re trying to figure out what to do with their lives when high school is over and what kind of people they want to be. What was special about this season was that we got to dive into [the other characters] in a much deeper sense. I think we can do that again with the third season.”
We don’t know yet if season 3 will be Euphoria’s last. In response to a question about whether the series would end with season 3, Casey Bloys told TVLine: “I will let [exec producer] Sam [Levinson] and Zendaya talk about [that]. I’m very excited about what they’ve got planned [for season 3]. So I will leave that to them. I will say, generally speaking, we trust where they want to take these characters. So we’ll let the creative team lead the way.”
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