Yellowjackets Season 2 concluded this weekend with two significant gut punches. Because of this, the finale has viewers in agony over what might happen next in the series.
Chances are, readers who found this article have already seen the entirety of Season 2.
But just in case, Spoilers will follow for the second season of Yellowjackets.
The survivors of Flight 2525, both past and present, have been through a lot this season.
Young Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) lost a baby boy during childbirth, older Misty (Christina Ricci) befriended a possible love interest in a man named Walter (played by Elijah Wood), Juliette Lewis’s character Natalie was chosen by the wilderness, Lottie (Simone Kessell) of the future is losing her sense of reality, and the Yellowjackets of the past lost their cabin to a fire.
With the season ending on such a troublesome note, viewers might wonder when the show might return. But given current events, Yellowjackets Season 3’s release date might be an extended wait in the cold woods.
Here is what we know about the Yellowjackets Season 3 release date.
Yellowjackets Season 3 release date could be delayed
Currently, the cannibal queens of Showtime do not have a third-season return date. That said, the show has been renewed for a third season.
The series’ creators, Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, began writing the show’s third outing in April. The only issue, the proactive early start, was an attempt to avoid the writer’s strike.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, both showrunners opened up about the existing strike before it took place. Lyle explained with concern to the outlet, “The possibility of the strike is very real. All we can do is keep moving forward until we have to put our pencils down.”
She added a start date for the writer’s room, stating, “We go right into season three. We’re starting the writers’ room in April. No break.”
If the team began work on a third season in April, it means they had weeks to draft a nine or ten-episode series. It’s easy to assume this was impossible to finish by May 2, the day the writer’s strike began.
This would mean Season 3 would not begin filming for some time, and the strike might escalate if the DGA decides to strike with the WGA.
Still, we can speculate a potential release date amid a writer revolt.
Yellowjackets Season 3 release date: When will the show likely return?
Assuming the show follows the traditional release pattern, Yellowjackets Season 3 could drop in the middle part of 2024.
The first season premiered on November 2021, with the second season landing in March 2023. This would place Yellowjackets Season 3 release date around June or July of 2024 in a typical year.
However, this is not a typical year. The last writers’ strike in 2007 lasted three months, causing massive setbacks for various films and television shows.
If the current strike continues the 2007 pattern, we might not see Yellowjackets until late 2024–or even worse, 2025.
But a late return is better than “no return.”
Until then, audiences can stream Yellowjackets on Showtime Anytime and through a Showtime/Paramount+ bundle package.