Succession season 4: everything we know

It’s official: Succession season 4 is on the way. 

Showrunner Jesse Armstrong’s fictionalized take on the Murdoch media empire is dark, dramatic and often hilarious – combining tension and comedy in ways rarely seen on screen – and season 3 continued to prove why it’s one of the best HBO Max shows around.

Having developed something of a cult following in recent years (1.7 million people caught its most recent season finale), it’s no wonder Succession has already been green-lit by HBO for a fourth outing, and we’re excited to see how future episodes intend to tie up the loose ends left by season 3’s explosive cliffhanger. 

Below, you’ll find everything we know about Succession season 4 so far – from details on returning cast members to its likely release date and potential plot threads. 

Naturally, spoilers follow for Succession seasons 1-3, so proceed with caution. 

Release date: No official release date has been shared by HBO just yet, but we anticipate Succession season 4 to arrive either late 2022 or early 2023. Leading man Brian Cox has said the show’s producers plan to start filming new episodes in June 2022, as long as writing gets underway in January. 

Cast: Given that HBO has renewed the show for a fourth season, we’re anticipating returns for all the major Roy family cast members, along with the actors playing fringe characters like Gerri, Willa, Stewy and Ewan. We also expect Alexander Skarsgård to reprise his role as Lukas Matsson. Adrien Brody’s future as Josh Aaronson is less clear, though.

Story: After Logan’s shocking decision to consider Matsson’s offer of buying Waystar Royco, we expect Kendall, Shiv and Roman to band together in an effort to relieve power from their father in season 4. Shiv and Tom’s marriage is also likely to come under the microscope, following the latter’s presumed betrayal. 

Succession season 4 release date

Given that Succession’s third season didn’t conclude until December 2021, we’re not anticipating season 4 to arrive any time soon. We do know it’s coming, though, after HBO Executive Vice President, Francesca Orsi, confirmed the renewal of the Emmy Award-winning show in a 2021 press release.

Judging by the time it takes to film each season – and knowing that shooting on new episodes isn’t yet underway – the earliest we expect Succession season 4 to arrive is late 2022, between October and December. 

That would mark a decidedly shorter seasonal gap than the one between seasons 3 and 4, mind. Amid the pandemic-induced chaos of 2020, WarnerMedia shut down production on all of its series, including Succession, which pushed season 3’s expected 2020 release date back by more than a year to October 2021. 

(Image credit: HBO)

Seasons 1 and 2 landed in the summers of 2018 and 2019, respectively, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that future seasons will adopt an annual release schedule later in the year, with Covid-19 having pushed season 3’s arrival to October.

In a recent interview with GQ, leading man Brian Cox revealed that the show’s producers plan to start filming Succession season 4 in June 2022, as long as writing gets underway as early as January. 

“That’s roughly the plan. I think the writers are getting back in January,” he said. “I was surprised because I thought they’d be getting back in November. But I do think they need a break. I mean, I think that they do need space, because they’ve been working really hard on [the show].”

As usual, we expect Succession season 4 to arrive on HBO Max in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK. Depending on its release date, European viewers may be able to enjoy Succession, too, thanks to the planned rollout of HBO Max across the continent later in the year.

Succession season 4 cast

As for which cast members we expect to return for Succession season 4, it’d be a huge shock if Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, Matthew MacFadyen or Nicholas Braun didn’t all reprise their roles. 

After all, Succession’s drama is wholly reliant on examining the twisted relationships between the characters in its central Roy family (the clue is in the show’s name). Future episodes would struggle to maintain the series’ compelling tensions should even one member exit the fray. 

(Image credit: HBO)

As such, we expect all of the Roys to return for season 4. Judging by comments made by various cast members (which you’ll find further down this article) about their excitement for future episodes, it seems that many key actors have already confirmed their involvement. 

We also anticipate that fringe characters like Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron), Willa (Justine Lupe), Stewy (Arian Moayed) and Ewan (James Cromwell) will return for season 4. 

Although many of these characters don’t play a direct role in influencing the question at the heart of the show – who will inherit Logan Roy’s media empire? – almost all maintain very particular relationships with certain Roy family members that reveal more about the motivations of the show’s main players; they’re therefore important pieces of Succession’s puzzle. 

The same goes for Alexander Skarsgård’s tech entrepreneur Lukas Matsson. At the end of season 3, Logan Roy – in a move that shocked his children – appeared to strike a deal with Matsson to relinquish power of Waystar Royco in exchange for a payout. 

Given that this decision is likely to form the crux of season 4’s plot, it’s safe to assume that Skarsgård will be returning to Succession for future episodes. 

(Image credit: HBO)

Less clear is whether Adrien Brody, who briefly starred in season 3 as billionaire investor Josh Aaronson, will reprise his role. Aaronson was used as a vessel through which Succession’s showrunners sought to question Logan’s competence as an elderly CEO. Having fulfilled that purpose, it’s hard to see where Brody could take the character next.

Still, even if Brody doesn’t return as Aaronson, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more A-listers step into Succession’s boardrooms as new characters in season 4.

Succession season 4 story

Following the fallout of Kendall’s betrayal and Logan’s gung-ho quest for revenge in Succession season 2, last year’s episodes placed the spotlight on each Roy sibling equally, giving actors Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin room to flex their (at times cringe-inducing) muscles. 

Season 4 seems primed to continue in that vein, after Logan’s dramatic decision to consider Matsson’s offer left the trio of siblings more united (against their father) than ever. 

Naturally, Kendall, Shiv and Roman deem their father’s desire to relinquish family control of Waystar Royco an act of betrayal. For three seasons, viewers have watched the siblings trade insults over which of them is best placed to inherit their father’s company – it follows, then, that none of them want to see it fall into outsider hands.

(Image credit: HBO)

This conflict is likely to drive the plot of Succession season 4. Other narrative threads are harder to pin down, though we expect Shiv’s unconventional marriage to Tom to come under the spotlight once again, after the latter betrayed his wife in exchange for Logan’s favor. 

At least, that’s what season 3’s cliffhanger finale wants us to believe – we don’t yet know the full extent of Tom’s role in the betrayal, nor how much Greg played a part in alerting Logan to his children’s plans of sabotaging the deal with Matsson.

Sarah Snook, for one, is excited to learn more. She told SiriusXM: “I’ve got no idea [where the show is going with that incident]. I can’t wait for us to start shooting again, because I want to know what happens.”

In reference to season 3’s final shot – which suggests Shiv knows what Tom has done – Snook added: “I feel like it’s a really powerful position for Shiv to be in, because she knows information, and then can choose whether to reveal that information. She could choose not to tell her siblings, and she could also choose not to tell Tom that she knows […] But it’s got to light a fire [within her].”

(Image credit: HBO)

Right now, though – and for the first time in the show’s history – it looks like season 4 will begin with Kendall, Shiv and Roman versus everyone else. 

Still, given that HBO exec Francesca Orsi declared, in her aforementioned renewal announcement, that “Jesse Armstrong [continues] to surpass our wildest expectations” with each new season of Succession, we’re expecting to be surprised by the inevitable twists and turns season 4 has in store.

The future of the show

As for whether Succession season 4 will be the show’s last, we’re confident that it won’t be. Though HBO didn’t allude to further seasons in its recent press release, interviews with cast and crew have put our minds at ease. 

Series mainstay Brian Cox, for instance – who plays family boss Logan Roy – told GQ that he expects “possibly two more series, and then I think we’re done.”

The show’s executive producer, Georgia Pritchett, echoed that sentiment, revealing to The Times last year that she believes Succession is unlikely to go beyond five seasons. “I think the maximum would be five seasons, but possibly more like four,” she said, “at this point [Jesse Armstrong] is saying only one more.”

Indeed, series creator Armstrong has admitted that he wants the show to come to a definitive end. “There’s going to be a very definite moment when that story is over, and it can’t go on too long,“ he told The New Statesman. 

It seems likely, then, that we’ll be treated to a fifth season of Succession after season 4 – which gives plenty of time for Logan to finally appoint a successor to his media empire.

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