Succession Will End With Season 4

In a nutshell:

Jesse Armstrong’s critically acclaimed, delightfully foul-mouthed, almost Shakespearean saga following media mogul Logan Roy and his ambitious children is returning with its last installment.

Which cast members are returning for Succession Season 4?

HBO has confirmed that all of Succession’s major players are returning for season four. This includes Brian Cox as indomitable patriarch Logan, Jeremy Strong as the emotionally volatile Kendall, Kieran Culkin as the hilarious Roman, Sarah Snook as the calculated Shiv, and Alan Ruck as the deluded Connor. Their hangers-on will be in attendance too: Matthew Macfadyen as Shiv’s fragile yet conniving husband Tom; Nicholas Braun as his lackey, Greg; and J. Smith-Cameron’s Gerri, who remains in place as interim CEO.

Of the show’s most significant supporting characters, we’ll also see more of Peter Friedman’s longtime advisor Frank; David Rasche’s slippery Karl; Fisher Stevens’s deadpan Hugo; Scott Nicholson’s ominous fixer Colin; Hiam Abbass as Logan’s mysterious wife Marcia; and Zoë Winters as his assistant Kerry, with whom he seemed to be having an affair. Justine Lupe will be back, too, as Connor’s fiancée Willa, along with Jeannie Berlin’s Cyd, the cut-throat head of TV network ATN, and Alexander Skarsgård’s eccentric tech entrepreneur Lukas Matsson, who joined the series in a recurring role last season. HBO has added that additional cast members will be revealed at a later date.

What do we know so far about the plot of Succession Season 4?

The show’s third season ended with a brutal betrayal: Having discovered that Matsson’s GoJo was on the verge of buying Waystar, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv joined forces to take Logan down and torpedo the deal. Shiv then shared their plan with Tom—a move that soon proved fatal. When the trio arrived at Logan’s war room, they learned that he’d already outmaneuvered them and later, Shiv caught a glimpse of Logan appearing to thank Tom.

Previous seasons of Succession have picked up where the last left off, suggesting that the same will happen this time around. The official synopsis for the upcoming series reads: “In the 10-episode season four, the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson moves ever closer. The prospect of this seismic sale provokes existential angst and familial division among the Roys as they anticipate what their lives will look like once the deal is completed. A power struggle ensues as the family weighs up a future where their cultural and political weight is severely curtailed.”

Further clues arrived on October 13 via a report in Variety which noted that the production was heading to western Norway, with the Roys “invited to visit the GoJo founder’s homeland.” The producer overseeing the shoot, Scott Ferguson, confirmed that the likes of Alexander Skarsgård, Sarah Snook, and Nicholas Braun had been filming in a number of spectacular locations including on the Romsdalen gondola, a cable car which offers panoramic views of the mountains; the sleek Juvet Landscape Hotel, previously seen in Alex Garland’s Ex Machina; and the Atlantic Ocean Road, which featured in No Time to Die. “In the writers’ room, around February, Jesse had an idea for an episode [he] wanted to be in [Matsson’s] part of the world,” Ferguson added. “When we saw images of the remarkable architecture and setting of Juvet we got really excited. Norway is a glorious, natural setting. It immediately seemed like a perfect place for a family gathering in the series.”

Is there a trailer for Succession season 4?

The first footage from the new season was revealed on October 17 as part of a preview of upcoming shows on HBO. It opens with Logan delivering a speech in the ATN newsroom, flanked by Tom and Cyd, and seemingly addressing the upcoming sale of Waystar Royco. “This is not the end,” he declares. “We’re killing the opposition. I’m going to build something better, faster, leaner, wilder. I love it here!” While Shiv, Roman, Kendall, and Connor watch on in despair, only Greg looks genuinely enthusiastic, applauding loudly in the crowd.

A dedicated Succession teaser then landed on October 24, and confirmed that fans will have to wait until spring 2023 for their next taste of corporate skullduggery. “I’m 100 feet tall,” Logan declares in the clip. “These people are pygmies.” Meanwhile, his kids appear to still be rallying together after their failed attempt to kill their father’s plan. “New-gen Roys,” Kendall tells his siblings. “We have a song to sing.” No signs of a Roy rapprochement any time soon, then. Also of note? A glimpse of cars speeding down the Atlantic Ocean Road, and Tom asking Shiv, “Do you want to talk about what happened?” Cue Shiv looking absolutely furious. 

Another trailer followed on January 26, 2023, this time featuring a glimpse of Kendall, Roman, and Shiv giving their father the cold shoulder; Connor and Willa celebrating at the altar; and Matsson asking Kendall, “Are you tanking the deal?” There’s also footage of Tom asking Logan what would happen if his marriage to Shiv were to end. “We’ll always be good, right?” the former asks nervously. “If we’re good, we’re good,” the latter replies, looking steely. Let the double crossing begin.

Is there a release date for Succession Season 4?

Succession will be returning to screens on March 26.

Will Succession really end with Season 4?

On February 23, Jesse Armstrong confirmed that the fourth season would indeed be the show’s last. In an interview with The New Yorker, the showrunner said: “There’s a promise in the title of Succession. I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind. From season two, I’ve been trying to think: is it the next one, or the one after that, or is it the one after that? I got together with a few of my fellow writers before we started the writing of season four… and I sort of said, ‘Look, I think this maybe should be it. But what do you think?’ And we played out various scenarios: we could do a couple of short seasons, or two more seasons. Or we could go on for ages and turn the show into something rather different, and be a more rangy, freewheeling kind of fun show, where there would be good weeks and bad weeks. Or we could do something a bit more muscular and complete, and go out sort of strong. And that was definitely always my preference.”

But this may not be the last we see of all of the Roys. “I do think that this succession story that we were telling is complete,” Armstrong added. “But the feeling that there could be something else in an allied world, or allied characters, or some of the same characters—that’s also strong in me. I have caveated the end of the show, when I’ve talked to some of my collaborators, like: maybe there’s another part of this world we could come back to, if there was an appetite? Maybe there’s something else that could be done, that harnessed what’s been good about the way we’ve worked on this. So that is another true feeling.”

How should I entertain myself until Succession Season 4 premieres?

Start by rewatching the first three seasons of the hit show, and then binge both HBO’s official Succession podcast and Vanity Fair’s Still Watching, which features discussions with everyone from Matthew Macfadyen and Sarah Snook to Adrien Brody, who guest starred last season as the beanie-wearing billionaire Josh Aaronson. In need of another razor-sharp drama about corporate intrigue to tide you over? Try Industry, the second season of which dropped last fall.