Welcome back to Waystar Royco! After a long hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Succession fans can expect to see their favorite messy family back on the small screen soon enough.
The HBO series debuted in June 2018, starring Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin and Alan Ruck as the Roy family, the wealthy owners of a global media and entertainment conglomerate. Cox’s Logan Roy craftily manipulates his children, all of whom are fighting to gain more power within the company. The extended Roy family tree also includes Nicholas Braun as Cousin Greg and Matthew Macfadyen as Logan’s son-in-law, Tom Wambsgans.
Season 2 came to an end in October 2019 and continued to keep viewers guessing about who will eventually secure the spot as Logan’s right-hand man. “I have no idea who would be the final successor,” Snook told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “But I imagine that, whoever is, probably wouldn’t hold on to it for very long.”
The series became an instant hit among both fans and critics, with Cox earning the 2020 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama and Strong winning Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 2020 Emmy Awards. In 2019, show creator Jesse Armstrong took home the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Before going back to the drawing board for season 3, Armstrong told Vulture, “I have a bunch of research and a bunch of thoughts about what should happen” as the family feud heats up. While plenty of the show’s story lines feel eerily similar to what’s happening in the real world, he said the writers aren’t aiming to imitate major events.
“We’re in the culture just like everyone else is, and it’s a show that has a relationship to the real world,” Armstrong said in October 2019. “All the writers and myself have feelings and thoughts about what’s happening in the U.S. and the wider world. We’re not ripping stuff straight from the headlines and throwing it into the show. We’re taking what feels like it’s around and fitting it to the characters we have. Then we’re in a good place to accidentally hit on themes in reality. They are lucky hits.”
Production for season 3 was put on pause amid the coronavirus pandemic, but the cast returned to the streets of New York City in late 2020 and early 2021. As for what’s next, Cox previously told Deadline there’s “a lot of fireworks” in the upcoming episodes, hinting that viewers should expect the unexpected.
Scroll down to learn more about Succession season 3, including the premiere date, new characters and more: