All the bloody mayhem in store for Castlevania Season 3

Even though Dracula has been defeated, Netflix's beloved Castlevania animated series lives on. The streaming platform will release Season 3 after a 16 month-long hiatus.

For anyone who wants to see more adventures featuring vampire hunter Trevor Belmont, magician Sypha Belnades, and maybe even Dracula’s dhampir son Alucard, here’s what you need to know about Castlevania Season 3.

Spoilers follow for Seasons 1 and 2 of Netflix’s Castlevania animated series.

Castlevania Season 2 introduced a host of new characters to this budding animated universe. Vampire generals and human necromancers were joined by even more powerful kinds of demons and devils. While Dracula's death saw the most immediate threat neutralized at the end of Season 2, there are still plenty more stories to tell in this universe. There are more than 30 video games for future episodes to draw from, or the series may do something totally new.

When is the Castlevania Season 3 release date?

Netflix's NX Twitter account confirmed in a tweet on February 4 that Season 3 will be released March 5, 2020. It promises "more mystery, murder, mayhem, and vampires than ever." Oh boy!

The existence of a third season was first confirmed by Trevor Belmont voice actor Richard Armitage in a July 2018 interview with Digital Spy, before the Season 2 release. Deadline reported the third season had been greenlit in October 2018, adding that it would be 10 episodes long.

Back in July 2017, showrunner Adi Shankar told Inverse he had a “multi-year plan” for the show. Furthermore, in an interview published November 16 by IGN, Shankar doubled down on Season 3’s confirmation while also announcing that a Devil May Cry animated series was also in development. Shankar explained that because the Castlevania series “really over-performed,” its success quickly led to more seasons. “It did crazy well,” Shankar said. “We immediately got greenlit for Season 3.”

So not only can we expect lots more Castlevania, but that might mean crossover potential with Devil May Cry down the road.

Is there a trailer for Castlevania Season 3?

Netflix has yet to release a teaser for Castlevania Season 3, but considering the new season will debut just a month after the release date was announced, we expect to see one shortly. Check Netflix's official YouTube channel in the coming weeks.

How did the Castlevania Season 2 finale set up Season 3?

At the end of Season 2, Alucard killed Dracula and took up a solitary residence in his father’s castle. It now floats permanently above Belmont Hold, after Sypha cast a spell to destroy its teleportation magic. Trevor and Sypha continue their adventures together elsewhere, but not before agreeing to give Alucard access to the Belmont family’s archives. The sharing of ancient knowledge proves to be an important running theme in the series and will continue moving forward even if their adventuring party has broken up.

Dracula’s most loyal human servant, the Devil Forgemaster Isaac, was sent into a faraway desert in the finale for his own safety. While there, he murdered a band of raiders and used them to create an undead army. If there’s one character that’ll continue Dracula’s plans to exterminate humanity in Season 3, it’s Isaac.

Dracula’s former vampire general Carmilla also has ambitions to fill the power vacuum filled by Dracula’s death, and she's forced the other Forgemaster named Hector into subservience. Much like Isaac, Hector is a necromancer with similar abilities.

All of these characters appear in the Season 3 poster featured above, along with two newcomers: A brown-haired woman standing over Hector and a roguish-looking vagabond who may be Grant Danasty, a fixture of the video games who often travels with Trevor and Sypha.

Do the games hint at what’s ahead in Castlevania Season 3?

The general plot and characters of the Castlevania animated series come directly from 1990's Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. The game's plot ends with Dracula’s death, so now that the show has caught up, it's entering new territory. In greater Castlevania canon, Trevor and Sypha get married and have children, continuing the Belmont line of warriors. Dracula also comes back several times over, so it’s possible that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the vampire warlord.

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (2005) might also provide hints about what’s to come in Season 3. In that story, set three years after Dracula’s death, Hector has relinquished his powers to live among the humans until Isaac kills his wife and forces him into an ongoing feud that involves the resurrection of Dracula and the continuation of his curse. Isaac is indeed looking like a major villain moving forward, and Hector wants nothing of Carmilla's plans. Hector having to face off against Isaac eventually does seem inevitable, but it’s far more likely that Carmilla will be the major antagonist of Season 3.

Carmilla’s role in the show is also totally different from her story in the games, so there’s no telling how her ambition could create new conflict in Season 3.

How many episodes will be in Castlevania Season 3?

Deadline reported in October 2018 that Season 3 would be 10 episodes. Season 1 only had four, with Season 2 doubling that count to 8. So this will be the longest Castlevania season ever, and it’ll be almost as long as all the previous episodes put together.

Castlevania Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix with Season 3 scheduled for release on March 5, 2020.