What Do We Know About the upcoming third season of Severance? More than you may think. After the critically acclaimed second season left us with cliffhangers and questions, we have heard many announcements about casting, plot, and more. With news dropping regularly, let’s dive in and look at what is coming up in season three of Severance.
Season Three was announced the day the Season Two finale debuted
With a three-year wait between seasons, the sophomore run finally hit Apple TV+ in January 2025, announcing a third season hitting social media on March 21st, the same day as the season finale. Apple CEO Tim Cook posted about the third season, and Ben Stiller shared it with the comment, “Making Severance has been one of the most creatively exciting experiences I’ve ever been a part of. While I have no memory of this, I’m told that making season three will be equally enjoyable. However, any recollection of these future events will be forever and irrevocably wiped from my memory as well.”
The writer’s room started early as a result of the WGA Strike.
When both the Screen Actors’ Guild and Writers’ Guild of America ceased work in 2024, it created a domino effect on series and films across Hollywood. Because of the delay and the long pause between the first two seasons, Ben Stiller and series creator Dan Erickson decided to start sooner rather than later. Stiller said in an interview that the future of Severance requires living up to the mysteries they have presented. Stiller said, “You have a responsibility to the audience that you’re going somewhere with it,” he said. “That’s always been a part of it for us, really understanding where it’s heading to, and Apple’s been really supportive of that and been sensitive to what the story is and not saying, ‘Okay, this is something that has to keep going as long as it’s successful.’ It should go as long as the story goes, and that’s something we have an idea of, and we’re working towards as we’re starting up our season 3 work.”
Ben Stiller will not direct any episodes in Season 3.
After directing six episodes of the first season and five in the second, Ben Stiller is stepping away from the director’s chair. While he will remain aboard Severance as an executive producer, Ben Stiller has decided not to helm any episodes of the upcoming third season as he pursues other projects. These include a World War II film he is developing about the true story of a downed airman in Occupied France and how he gets involved with the French Resistance. Stiller is also connected to an HBO series called The Band about the music business and a film adaptation of Rachel Maddow’s podcast Bag Man about Richard Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew. Stiller went to social media to explain his decision to get older and have limited time to work on projects. The filmmaker and actor said, “It’s been full-time the last 8 months working on season 3, and I’m not going anywhere. We have incredible directors and a team that creates the show. I love directing it and look forward to it again at some point. I feel like season 3 will be the best yet as we continue to evolve.” Stiller has not ruled out involvement with a potential fourth season of Severance, so stay tuned for his return.
House of Cards showrunner Beau Willimon has joined in a key role.
Rumors of strife behind the scenes during the second season of Severance hinted that creator Dan Erickson and producer/co-showrunner Mark Friedman were experiencing difficulties working together. This led to Ben Stiller bringing in writer/producer Beau Willimon to help craft the direction of the second half of season two and road map the upcoming third season. Willimon achieved critical acclaim as creator and writer on Netflix’s House of Cards and wrote six episodes of the Star Wars series, Andor. Willimon has not scripted any episodes of Severance to date, but as executive producer, his input may have been key in bringing the threads of the series’ overarching mystery together.
The third season will boast new showrunners alongside creator Dan Erickson.
Dan Erickson, who ran the first and second seasons of Severance alongside Chris Black and Mark Friedman, will be joined by new co-showrunners Eli Jorne and Mary Laws. Erickson wrote three episodes of the first season and second season, with a shared credit with Friedman on one second-season episode. Black wrote one episode in the first season.
No cast announcements have been made yet.
Warning for potential spoilers if you have not seen Severance’s second season, but if you are reading this, I assume you came here for a reason. Season two found Mark deciding to stay with Helly as an Innie despite saving Mark’s Outie wife, Ms. Casey, from the depths of Lumon’s campus. The finale also found Irving and Burt seemingly leaving town, which may limit their screen time in the third season. We saw the fate of Mr. Drummond at the hands of Lorne (Gwendoline Christie,) while we are still unsure of what is coming next for Mr. Milchick (Trammel Tillman) or Ms. Huang (Sarah Bock). We know that Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) has a key role in the severance procedure, which means her role should be larger in season three. I would expect all of the surviving characters in season two to return for the third, with some new additions, as the mystery of Lumon and severance will continue to expand.
Spinoffs and a video game could be in development.
Like Netflix’s Squid Game, Apple has found a potential franchise in Severance. While marketing products has been limited, Apple has published an e-book that ties into the overarching mythology of the series and could be an indicator of similar products to come. When asked about the potential for spinoffs, Ben Stiller played coy and said. “There are two specific ideas — that I won’t tell you — that we’ve talked about internally as possible spinoff ideas. They are nascent.” Stiller and star Adam Scott like the idea of bespoke product tie-ins like Lumon keyboards or a video game, as the series lends itself to those concepts, but only if the products are made with a purposeful connection to the series.
When will we see it?
While everyone involved wants to get started, there have been no formal announcements as to casting or production dates yet. Ben Stiller did say the wait will not be anywhere close to the three-year delay caused by the WGA and SAG strikes, so hopefully, the cameras will start rolling in early 2026 for a potential debut by the end of that year or the beginning of 2027.
Stay tuned to JoBlo.com as we learn more about the third season of Severance and all your other favorite shows. What do you expect to see in the upcoming third season of Severance? Let us know in the comments, and click the like and subscribe to follow all our latest original videos.
