Severance Season 3 Is Already In The Works, Ben Stiller Says
Will the next season of the sci-fi thriller be its last?
The streaming era has delivered some of the best shows in history, but waiting multiple years between seasons has become an irritating trade-off. Apple TV’s Severance may be the worst example of a growing trend: Its first season debuted in 2022, and though several seasons were always in the cards, it’s taken three years for Apple to deliver on Season 2.
There’s no one cause for Severance’s long development — a global health crisis, the Hollywood writers’ strike, and alleged behind-the-scenes conflict each prevented a timely return — but that doesn’t make its delay any easier to accept. Series creators Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson are well aware of the disappointment the delay has caused, and they seem determined to avoid past mistakes. With Season 2 finally arriving this week, Stiller and Erickson are already developing a third season.
In a November 2024 interview with Collider, Ben Stiller revealed a tentative plan for the future of the series. The director feels a “responsibility” to keep the momentum going after Season 2: “That’s always been a part of it for us, really understanding where it’s heading to, and Apple’s been really supportive of that and been sensitive to what the story is and not saying, ‘Okay, this is something that has to keep going as long as it’s successful.’”
Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson are “working” toward a satisfying end for Severance.
He and Erickson even have a plan for the story’s end. “That’s something we have an idea of, and we’re working towards as we’re starting up our Season 3 work,” Stiller said.
It’s been a few months since Stiller offered this update, so there’s a chance development on Season 3 is underway now. He and Erickson both seem wary of spreading the show’s plot too thin, and given the ever-winding mystery at the center of Severance, it’s definitely prudent not to keep audiences in the dark for too long. Other puzzle box shows like Westworld and Lost dragged in their latter years, and with a narrative as twisty as Severance, it’s important not to overstay your welcome: A brief, succinct story is better than a longer one fans are sick of. Fortunately, everyone, including Apple’s producers, seems to be on the same page.
Severance Season 3 could therefore bring this story to an end. It all depends on Stiller and Erickson, but either way, it sounds like we hopefully won’t have to wait three more years to see how the drama at Lumon Industries progresses further.
