YellowjacketsSeason 3: All About the Thriller's Next Chapter — and Who Survived Season 2

Mar. 15, 2025

The “Yellowjackets” cast in season 1’s second episode.Photo:Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

TheYellowjacketsare set to return for their third course, but not without an amuse-bouche.

Having accumulated10 Emmy nominationsso far — including acting nominations forMelanie LynskeyandChristina Ricci— and adedicated fan baseacross its two seasons,Yellowjacketsis set to return for season 3 in early 2025, according toDeadline. However, series co-creatorAshley Lylealso confirmed that there will be a bonus episode released to curb viewers’ appetites before the season 3 release.

The series follows the Yellowjackets high school women’s soccer team — along with Coach Ben and their other coach’s sons Travis and Javi — after their plane crashes and strands them somewhere in the Canadian wilderness in 1996.

The series operates on multiple timelines — while making room for plenty of ’90s nostalgia — as it shows how the events affected the survivors 25 years later and what’s happening in their lives now.

Lyle shared that there are still many questions to be answered in her coming-of-age survival drama thriller series in season 3.

“Are we gonna get weirder? Probably! Will the fallout of redacted’s death affect our (anti)heroes in massive ways?” she wrote onX(formerly Twitter). “Will our girls’ struggle to survive against the elements (and themselves) get even down and dirtier? Do we still have to tell the story of Pit Girl? You betcha!”

Here’s everything to know aboutYellowjacketsseason 3.

When does filming forYellowjacketsseason 3 start?

The “Yellowjackets” cast in season 2’s sixth episode.showtime

During an interview withComicbook.comon April 3, 2024,Sophie Nélisse— who plays teenage Shauna — revealed that filming would start approximately one month from that day in early May.

“Yeah, we start in like a month,” Nélisse said. “Yeah, we go back to Vancouver in a month. I have my apartment there. We haven’t read any scripts. We don’t know anything. I wish I could tell you spoilers. I don’t have any.”

During an interview withDeadlinein 2024, Lyle also confirmed that production would begin in May 2024. That same month, Ricci shared a photo on herInstagramStories that showed her in costume as Misty, hinting that she was on set and that the show is filming again.

This intel was confirmed when the officialYellowjacketsInstagram account announced that production had begun in apostshared on May 14, 2024.

The post featured several photos from the set along with a caption that said, “We know you’re starving… #Yellowjackets Season 3 is officially in production. 🎬🐝.”

When willYellowjacketsseason 3 be released?

The “Yellowjackets” cast in “F Sharp” episode.Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

The writer’s strike took place the day after writers began writingYellowjacketsseason 3, which delayed production on the show. In November 2024, the official premiere date was announced in apromo video:Yellowjacketswillreturn on Feb. 14, 2025.

However, a bonus episode was announced that will help tide fans over untilYellowjacketsreturn to screens next year. In June 2023, when aYellowjacketsfan on X told Lyle she was staying up in hopes of the release of a bonus episode, Lyle gave a response confirming that there will be a bonus episode.

“Noooo. Go to bed! Get some rest! There will be a bonus episode between seasons, but I love you guys and I don’t want y’all to lose sleep thinking it’s tonight,” Lyle wrote onX.

Which cast members are returning forYellowjacketsseason 3?

The “Yellowjackets” cast in a season 2 promo photo.Lorenzo Agius/SHOWTIME

Yellowjacketsis known for its star-studded cast, which includes an Emmy nomination for Christina Ricci as adult Misty and two Emmy nominations for Melanie Lynskey as adult Shauna. Both actresses are set to return in season 3 and Lynskey previously told PEOPLE thatshe hopes to continue playing Shaunafor years to come.

“Whatever [the writers] want, I’m up for it,” Lynskey said. “I’ll do this show for as long as I can honestly.”

One cast member who will not be returning is Academy Award nomineeJuliette Lewisafter the death of adult Natalie. However,Sophie Thatcherwill be returning as teenage Natalie.

All the other major cast members who survived the first two seasons are expected to return, including Nélisse as teenage Shauna,Samantha Hanrattyas teenage Misty,Jasmin Savoy Brownas teenage Taissa, Courtney Eaton as teenage Lottie,Liv Hewsonas teenage Van,Kevin Alvesas teenage Travis andSteven Kruegeras Coach Ben. The surviving adults expected to return also includeTawny Cypressas adult Taissa,Lauren Ambroseas adult Van andSimone Kessellas adult Lottie.

Supporting characters Warren Kole as Shauna’s husband Jeff and Sarah Desjardins as Shauna and Jeff’s daughter Callie are also expected to return.Elijah Wood— best known for his role asFrodo Bagginsin theLord of the Ringsfranchise — is expected to return as Misty’s musical-loving citizen detective sidekick and potential boyfriend Walter.

In August 2024,Joel McHalewasrevealed as a guest starin the upcoming season. The following month,Deadlinereported thatHilary Swankhad joined the cast as a recurring guest star and may the potential to become a series regular. So far, no details about either character are available.

One other potential cast member is Lynskey’s husbandJason Ritter, who was originally set to debut in season 2. Despite Ritter’s unaired cameo, it was confirmed to PEOPLE thathe will have a cameoin the show at some point, although it is unconfirmed if that will be during season 3.

Where didYellowjacketsseason 2 leave off?

The “Yellowjackets” cast in season 2.Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

In the 1990s things took a turn for the worse as the Yellowjackets were starving during the winter and unable to find any animals to hunt and eat. They created a hunting ritual, in which whoever picked the Queen from a deck of cards would be hunted and eaten asthey resorted to cannibalism.

“It was disgusting … but also kind of delicious. That’s all I’m gonna say about that,” Savoy Brown teased while speaking with PEOPLE about filming the cannibalism.

Once Coach Ben sees what the survivors have done with Javi, he elects to isolate in Javi’s former hiding place before the remaining survivors’ cabin burns down in the season finale. While it wasn’t revealed who burned down the cabin, Coach Ben had become displeased with the teenagers’ treatment of each other — and was nowhere to be found and took matches from the cabin.

In the adult timeline during the 2020s, Lottie, Van, Natalie, Taissa, Misty and Shaunawere all reunitedat Lottie’s wellness compound. The reunion didn’t last long as Lottie convinced the adults their lives had become unmanageable because they brought the spirit of the wilderness back with them and needed to “feed” it.

In ShowTime’sBehind the Buzzfeaturette after the season finale, Nickerson shares that they like to leave climactic clues before showing a clip of adult Lottie saying that the sacrifice of Natalie to the wilderness will improve their lives. She then looks at Van — who has cancer — asShauna’s perceived role as a suspectin Adam Martin’s murder is disappearing, which could imply Van’s cancer diagnosis is disappearing and the other adult Yellowjackets will experience good fortune.

What isYellowjacketsseason 3 about?

The “Yellowjackets” cast in the season 2 finale episode.Kailey Schwerman/SHOWTIME

While not many plot details have been revealed, there are many unanswered questions in both the 1990s timeline and the 2020s timeline.

“I will say we see season 3 as a little bit of a return to season 1 in terms of the vibe, though. All I will say is that the girls have been out there for a while and they’re thriving,” Lyle toldTheWrap.

Season 1saw more moments of the Yellowjackets simply being teenagers, getting involved in romance, enjoying nice weather, swimming in the lake and joking around whereasseason 2saw them in a more serious survival mode.

Yellowjacketsshowrunners have previously stated that their original plan was for the show to run five seasons. With the timeline of the Yellowjackets being out there for 19 months, this would mean that each season is roughly four months so with the girls having arrived during summer it is likely that the snow will melt at some point in the season.

Hanratty may have alluded to this in a double entendre during her interview onEntertainment Tonightin 2024 when she shared her expectations for season 3.

“Season 1 was chaotic and messy. Season 2 was still and cold and dark and it was winter and then [season 3] feels like it’s gonna be the meltdown,” Hanratty said. “We’re gonna see the melting of, like, what these people are.”

Another timeline that was introduced in season 2 was the survivors’ re-entry into the world after being rescued in 1998. There are many questions about this, including how they were rescued and the immediate aftermath of their reintegration into society, which series directorKaryn Kusamateased will be explored in season 3.

In a June 2024 interview withThe Hollywood Reporter,Ricci said that the upcoming season would be “even more shocking and surprising” than ever before.

“It’s definitely going to be brutal. But they also put a lot of comedy into it. So I think it’s just going to be … extremelyYellowjackets-y," she said.

In an interview withVanity Fairin October 2024, creator Ashley Lyle said that there are “at least two very big questions” that fans have that will be given “very clear” answers in the upcoming season.

“We are going to learn more about what happened in the wilderness that they are so afraid of coming out. We hope it will be both satisfying and at times unexpected,” Lyle said. “And I think that we have found ourselves—let me think of how to say this.”

She added, “The stakes are pretty high in the present-day storyline, perhaps in a way that they did not feel in season two, and that was really exciting for us to delve into.”

source: people.com