The long-awaited — and oft-doubted — third season of “Euphoria” has finally been given a premiere date, nearly four long years after HBO’s hit high school drama aired its sophomore season.
Sam Levinson’s Emmy-winning series will return in April for what’s likely to be its final season, and pick up five years from where the second season ended.
“Five years felt like a natural place because if they’d gone to college they’d be out of college at that time,” Levinson said Wednesday at a London presentation for HBO Max, promising viewers “our best season yet.”
Here are the highlights of what we know about the third chapter in the “Euphoria” saga.
Which cast members are returning for Season 3?
Zendaya will reprise her historic Emmy-winning role as struggling addict Rue. Sydney Sweeney is also back as chronically insecure bombshell Cassie, while Hunter Schafer will return as Jules, a transgender woman and Rue’s on-and-off girlfriend.
Jacob Elordi and Maude Apatow will respectively return as tortured athlete Nate and Cassie’s younger sister, Lexi.
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Alexa Demie’s Maddy, the ex-girlfriend of Nate and former best friend of Cassie, is also back, as is Dominic Fike‘s Elliot, who finds himself in a love triangle with Rue and Jules.
Colman Domingo, who won an Emmy for his role as Rue’s sponsor Ali, is similarly set to return, as is Martha Kelly in her role as steely drug dealer Laurie.
Eric Dane, who portrays Nate’s father Cal, will also come back amid his recent diagnosis with neurodegenerative disease ALS.
Angus Cloud would have returned as sentimental drug dealer Fezco, though he tragically died of an accidental overdose at age 25 in July 2023.
Where in life are Rue, Cassie, Nate, Jules, Maddy and Lexi?
“We basically pick up Rue south of the border in Mexico, in debt to Laurie, trying to come up with some very innovative ways to pay it off,” Levinson said Wednesday.
Cassie and Nate, meanwhile, are engaged and “living in the suburbs,” and while she’s never, ever been happier, “she’s very addicted to social media and envious of what appears to be the big lives that all of her high school classmates are living.”
Levinson confirmed the couple, dysfunctional in their own right, “do in fact get married” and promised “it will be an unforgettable night.”
Jules is in art school for painting, “very nervous about having a career … and trying to avoid responsibility at all costs,” Levinson said. It’s unclear whether she remains in contact with Rue.
Maddy has “side hustles” in Hollywood, though her 9-to-5 is working at a talent agency.
Lexi, whose semi-autobiographical play caused an uproar in the second season, is an assistant to a showrunner played by Sharon Stone.
Fezco’s would-be storyline
Not much is known about Levinson’s plans for Fezco, whose Season 2 trajectory included a burgeoning romantic connection with Apatow’s Lexi.
Domingo told Vanity Fair last year that Cloud “was going to be a very strong part” of the upcoming season and said his death was sure to affect the storyline, but didn’t offer any details.
Viewers last saw Fezco in the crosshairs of a SWAT raid, during which he was accidentally shot in the stomach and his younger adoptive brother, Ashtray (Javon “Wanna” Walton), was killed.
Will Eric Dane’s real-life health be written into his character?
Dane, 53, confirmed during a Tuesday panel hosted by the I Am ALS organization that he’s “fairly limited” in what he can “do physically as an actor,” so all future roles will “have to be ALS-centric.”
“I still have my brain, and I still have my speech, so I’m willing to just do about anything. I’ll take on any role,” he said. “[But] from here on out, it’s going to have to be ALS-centric. It’s going to be very difficult for me to play any other role. [And] I’m fine with that. I’m grateful that I can still work in any capacity.”
Dane publicly announced his ALS diagnosis in April. Season 3 of “Euphoria” reportedly filmed from February of this year and wrapped last month, so it’s unclear how large a role the disease will play in Cal’s storyline. At the time of Dane’s announcement, People reported that he was scheduled to begin production in the upcoming days.
Which actors have left the show?
Barbie Ferreira notably announced in summer 2022 that she’d hung up her “Euphoria” hat and would leave the “most special and enigmatic” role of Kat behind.
Storm Reid, who played Rue’s younger sister Gia, revealed in November 2024 that her character wasn’t returning for the new season, though she said she felt “so indebted to the cast and the crew,” as well as the network.
New cast members — there are a lot of them
Among the nearly 30 confirmed newcomers to “Euphoria” will be singer Rosalía, YouTuber Trisha Paytas, five-time Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne, BAFTA-nominated “Till” star Danielle Deadwyler, former NFL star Marshawn Lynch and horror director Eli Roth.