It’s been three long years since we’ve last caught up with Rue Bennett (Zendaya), Jules Vaughn (Hunter Schafer), Cassie Howard (Sydney Sweeney), Nate Jacobs (Jacob Elordi) and the rest of the dysfunctional, drama-stoking students at East Highland High School. But class will soon be back in session with “Euphoria” season 3 officially confirmed and in development at HBO.
In a press release dated Feb. 4, 2022, HBO announced that “Euphoria” season 3 had been officially greenlit. The renewal wasn’t surprising, given that the show is one of the buzziest programs on television — not to mention a streaming favorite, with the season 2 premiere debuting as the most-viewed episode of an HBO series ever on Max, pulling in more than 14 million viewers across platforms — and has a real-deal movie star, a.k.a. Zendaya, at its forefront.
And after the shocking events of the “Euphoria” season 2 finale — which saw a school-play exposé, physical fights, an arrest and the death of a fan-favorite character — we can’t wait to see what hijinks Rue and her friends manage to cook up next season. From cast details to potential plots, here’s everything we know so far about “Euphoria” season 3. (Warning: spoilers are very much ahead through the “Euphoria” season 2 finale!)
‘Euphoria’ season 3 release speculation
HBO has not yet released an official premiere date for “Euphoria” season 3, though it’s believed that the third season will drop sometime in 2026. That timeframe was confirmed at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit in December 2024, per Deadline, with JB Perrette — the CEO and President of Global Streaming for HBO’s parent company Warner Bros. Discovery — adding that season three of the HBO hit will arrive “probably in early 2026.”
“Euphoria” season 3 was set to begin filming in spring 2024, but production was delayed a year due to the SAG and WGA strikes — filming officially kicked off on Feb. 10, 2025, per a social media announcement from the network.
As for that very long wait between seasons, “we shoot these episodes in like a month each. It takes a while,” said Colman Domingo — the Oscar nominee plays NA sponsor Ali Mohammed on “Euphoria,” for which he won an Emmy — told Extra. “It takes so long because there are a lot of frames. If you look at the show, there are a lot of tiny, tiny scenes. [Creator] Sam [Levinson] is very meticulous in such a gorgeous way. It’s gonna be worth the wait.”
Who will be in the ‘Euphoria’ season 3 cast?
Despite a jam-packed work schedule that included the back-to-back releases of “Dune: Part Two” and “Challengers” this past year, Zendaya will officially be back as our leading lady Rue Bennett.
The actress, who is also an executive producer on the drama, told The Hollywood Reporter that she hopes “Euphoria” season 3 brings “a little bit of happiness and a little bit of joy” for Rue after all of the drama of the second season. “I would like to explore Rue’s sobriety and that journey for her,” she also told Extra. “We see her in the midst of it. It would be nice to see her closer to the other side.”
Rue’s on-and-off-again love interest Jules Vaughn, played by Hunter Schafer, is also set to return for season three, as are fellow main cast members Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs, Maude Apatow and Sydney Sweeney as sisters Lexi and Cassie Howard, and Alexa Demie as Maddy Perez.
Along with Colman Domingo, who will be back as Ali, the remaining ensemble players will be filled by Dominic Fike as Elliot and Eric Dane as Cal. Getting bumped up to series regular status for the third season is Martha Kelly as Laurie — the drug dealer to whom fans will remember Rue still very much owes a hefty sum of money after season two — and Chloe Cherry as Faye. “Suicide Squad” actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and “Babyteeth” star Toby Wallace have also joined the series ahead of season three.
As for newcomers to the “Euphoria” cast, fans can expect movie icon Sharon Stone, musician Rosalía, Super Bowl football champion Marshawn Lynch, “The Chi” actor Kadeem Hardison next season, per Deadline.
Who will not be in ‘Euphoria’ season 3?
The cast tragically lost actor Angus Cloud — who played lovable drug dealer Fezco “Fez” O’Neil in the first and second season of “Euphoria” — due to an accidental drug overdose on July 31, 2023. He was only 25 years old.
Along with Fez, who fans last saw being arrested in the season 2 finale, the character’s adopted brother Ashtray (played by Javon “Wanna” Walton) also won’t be returning for the third season, as the young boy was killed onscreen in a shootout during a SWAT raid. “I do think Ash is dead,” Walton told Entertainment Tonight in August 2022. “As much as I loved ‘Euphoria,’ I’ve moved on.”
Elsewhere, Barbie Ferreira — who played Kat Hernandez on the show’s first and second seasons — won’t be returning to “Euphoria.” “After four years of getting to embody the most special and enigmatic character kat, I’m having to say a very teary eyed goodbye,” the actress wrote in an Instagram Story. “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.”
However, Ferreira expanded on her reasons for leaving the popular TV series during an appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast: “I don’t think there was a place for [Kat] to go,” Ferreira said. “I think there were places she could have gone. I just don’t think it would have fit into the show. I don’t know if it was going to do her justice, and I think both parties knew that. I really wanted to be able to not be the fat best friend. I don’t want to play that, and I think they didn’t want that either.”
Storm Reid, who portrayed Rue’s younger sister Gia Bennett, also reportedly won’t return for season three; neither will Nika King, who played Bennett matriarch Leslie.
‘Euphoria’ season 3 plot speculation
There’s a lot of ground to cover in the show’s third season, from Rue and Jules’ unresolved romantic relationship to Maddy and Cassie’s ongoing friend feud to the fallout after Lexi’s illuminating play, to the Jacobs household’s familial drama, especially after Nate called the cops on his dad. And, as mentioned, there’s also Rue’s big debt to dangerous Laurie.
However, it’s unclear if and how “Euphoria” season 3 will follow up on all of those various storylines, as a time jump is planned for the new episodes. That temporal fast-forward will reportedly catch up with the characters after they’ve already graduated from East Highland. “It’s important because there’s only so much high school drama you can deal with,” Zendaya said to Entertainment Weekly‘s The Awards podcast in October 2024.
The actress continued: “It will be fascinating to see and understand these characters outside of the context of high school and how all the stuff that we saw when they were kids and they were in high school affects the adulthood they have and who they become in a much bigger world. I’ll be interested to see what happens too.”
