Atlanta Season 3 is happening and fans are looking forward to Donald Glover’s award-winning series returning to TV screens.
FX renewed Atlanta for Season 3 in June 2018 after Season 2, titled Atlanta: Robbin’ Season, ended in May.
delivered. #AtlantaFX pic.twitter.com/qozE0fXYtl
— AtlantaFX (@AtlantaFX) June 7, 2018
Following the renewal of Atlanta for Season 3, fans have been wondering when the upcoming season will premiere on FX, who will be in it and what to expect of the plot.
To answer your questions, here is everything we know about Atlanta Season 3, including the premiere date, trailers, cast, plot and more.
Atlanta Season 3 release date on FX
FX has not officially announced a premiere date for Atlanta Season 3, but series star Zazie Beetz revealed in an interview with IndieWire in January that Atlanta Season 3 was behind schedule, production unlikely to begin until spring 2019 or later.
FX executives John Landgraf and John Solberg also shared at the TCA Winter Press tour in February that production on Season 3 was behind schedule, suggesting the show won’t return in 2019 as expected.
The delay was due to Glover’s busy schedule. Glover began his This is America Tour in September 2018 and ended in December.
Atlanta Season 2 premiered in March 2018, eighteen months after Season 1 premiered. The delay in launching Season 2 was also partly due to Glover’s busy schedule while he was filming Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) as Lando Calrissian.
With FX confirming that Atlanta Season 3 is behind schedule, fans can expect the upcoming season to premiere in early 2020, although a late 2019 date is still possible.
How many episodes will Atlanta Season 3 feature?
We don’t know yet how many episodes Atlanta Season 3 will feature. Atlanta Season 1 featured 10 episodes, while Season 2 featured 11.
We will update this post when FX officially confirms the number of episodes in Season 3.
Atlanta Season 3 production details
Atlanta is created by Donald Glover, who executive produces with Dianne McGunigle, Paul Simms and Stephen Glover. The series stars Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, and Lakeith Stanfield.
The production companies are RBA, 343 Incorporated, and MGMT Entertainment, in association with FX Production.
Audience response, ratings and critical reviews
The series has received positive critical reviews, with Season 1 scoring an approval rating of 97% based on 71 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Season 2 (Robbin’ Season) scored an approval rating of 98% based on 62 reviews.
On Metacritic, the series earned universal acclaim, with a Metascore of 90/100 based on 36 critical reviews.
Atlanta Season 2 averaged a 0.44 rating in the 18-49 demo, with 0.888 million viewers (Live+ Same Day).
Season 2 recorded a significant decline in ratings and viewership numbers. The sophomore season averaged 0.33 in the 18-49 demo and 0.639 million viewers.
Atlanta has won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards.
Atlanta Season 3 cast
The main cast of the series is expected to return for Season 3.
This means that Donald Glover will return as Earnest “Earn” Marks, a Princeton dropout struggling to get his cousin’s rap career off the ground. Brian Tyree Henry will return as Earn’s cousin Alfred.
Alfred is a rising hip-hop artist who raps as Paper Boi.
Lakeith Stanfield will return as Alfred’s right-hand man, the eccentric Nigerian-American Darius Epps.
Zazie Beetz will also return as Vanessa “Van” Keefer, Earn’s girlfriend with whom he has a daughter named Lottie.
Atlanta Season 3 trailer
FX has not yet released a trailer for Atlanta Season 3. The official trailer for Atlanta Season 2 was released on February 13, 2018, only two weeks before Season 2 premiered on March 1.
If FX follows a similar schedule in Season 3, it means that the trailer for the upcoming season is still a long way off.
We will update this post when the official trailer for Atlanta Season 3 is released.
Atlanta: What is the show about?
Atlanta follows Earn (Donald Glover) who becomes unemployed and homeless after dropping out of Princeton. He ends up managing the career of his cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), who is a rising rap star in Atlanta, Georgia, with the stage name Paper Boi.
The series follows Earn’s struggle to fulfill the expectations of his parents and his ex-girlfriend Van, who is the mother of his daughter Lottie.
Atlanta Season 3 plot
Atlanta Season 3 can be expected to pick up where Season 2 left off with Earn and Paper Boi leaving the U.S. for their European tour.
In the Season 2 finale, Earn is about to go through airport security when he realizes to his horror that he has a gun in his bag.
He plants the gun in rapper Clark County’s bag who then plants it in Luke’s (Clark’s manager) bag. Paper Boi sees Earn planting the gun in Clark’s bag and gives him advice that we can expect him to follow in Season 3.
“N*g**s gotta do what they do to survive because they don’t got no other choice,” Paper Boi said.
In Season 3, we’ll likely see a more decisive and spontaneous Earn willing to “play the game” to survive. But “playing the game” could get Earn into trouble.
“I align the seasons I think, to me like Kanye records. I feel like [season 3] is our Graduation,” Glover said while commenting on what to expect of Season 3. “This is probably our most accessible but also the realest, and honest version of it, and I feel like the most enjoyable, like the third album.”