First Euphoria Season 3 Image Reveals The Return Of Zendaya's Rue

Well, it's taken nearly three full years after season 2 released, but "Euphoria" season 3 is now in production. The new season, which includes the return of Zendaya's Rue Bennett, Sydney Sweeney's Cassie Howard, Hunter Schafer's Jules Vaughn, and Jacob Elordi's Nate Jacobs, officially started filming earlier this month. The show is expected to return sometime in 2026, although at this point fans aren't counting on anything. 

The show's promo team seems to know that fans are skeptical and impatient, so on Monday morning the official "Euphoria" twitter account released the first official image from the new season:

#Euphoria Season 3 is in production. pic.twitter.com/hEPx5AOTmo

— euphoria (@euphoriaHBO) February 10, 2025

The image doesn't reveal much, but the good news is that Rue seems sober in the pic, which is a relief to fans who have been worrying intensely about Rue's addiction issues since 2019. Previous reports about season 3 have indicated that the show will have a five-year time jump, returning to a cast that is now firmly out of high school and struggling through adulthood. For Rue's character specifically, the rumors were that creator Sam Levinson wanted her to be a detective in season 3, and in another draft he had her be a pregnancy surrogate. As for what profession Levinson ended up going with? It's still a mystery. 

At first glance, "Euphoria" seems like yet another show in the modern TV landscape taking way too long to get around to its next season. These delays are similar to the three-year gap "Severance" fans have just gone through, or what "House of the Dragon" fans are suffering through now. But even outside the growing trend of dragged-out TV show productions, the "Euphoria" season 3 production was uniquely troubled.

The first obstacle was the writers' strike in 2023, which delayed all TV writing by 148 days. The other issue was that the show is largely written and directed by one guy, Sam Levinson; fans have long debated whether the show would be better if Levinson had a writers' room, and the constant delays feel like a major point in his critics' favor. According to returning cast member Colman Domingo in a recent interview, "[Sam is] a person who writes and rewrites and writes and rewrites again, because I think he's wrestling with what's important... He's responding immediately to what the ills of the world are."

Another major delay was a tragedy beyond Levinson's control: Angus Cloud, who played one of the show's standout characters, Fez, passed unexpectedly in 2023 at only 25 years old. Fez was a major player in the series, and it's unknown to what extent his death has altered the Levinson's plans for the series.

Things were complicated further by cast member Barbie Ferreira's departure from the show after season 2, as well as the increasingly busy schedules of nearly every major actor still involved. Since season 1 premiered, Zendaya, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, and Hunter Schafer have each become some of the most acclaimed and sought-after stars in Hollywood. "Euphoria" season 3 may be taking forever, but considering all the real-world complications involved, sometimes it feels like a miracle this final season is happening at all.