Picture: Joe Locke as Charlie Spring in Heartstopper – Netflix
With Heartstopper season 3 coming to Netflix, fans are wondering when the series will conclude. While Netflix has yet to renew the coming-of-age drama for a fourth season, author Alice Oseman is hopeful of another installment.
First airing in 2022, Heartstopper is based on the best-selling graphic novels by British author Alice Oseman. The series follows unlikely teenage duo Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) as they navigate their formative years in school and the trials and tribulations that come with it — including young love, as Nick and Charlie discover whether their friendship is anything more.
The opening two seasons were hugely successful, with both spending three weeks in Netflix’s Top 10. For season 2, this translates to 55.5 million hours watched in its first three weeks. In regards to ratings, the series currently stands at a staggering 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
In Heartstopper season 3, Nick and Charlie, as 16-year-olds, begin their journey in 6th Form and look ahead to their futures. The 8-episode season tackles more mature themes, including Charlie’s battle with an eating disorder, which began to be covered in season 2. Check out the trailer:
Netflix has not renewed Heartstopper for Season 4 yet.
Heartstopper season 1 covered the first two volumes of Alice Oseman’s comics. In its second season, the show adapted the third volume of the comic while also expanding the story for television, adding in and developing new storylines. Season 3 adapts volumes 4 and 5 of the comic.
Right now, Alice Oseman is well into writing her comic’s sixth and final installment. She recently spoke with The Guardian about the comic:
“I’m only 50 pages in, but I know what’s going to happen, what all the dialogue is going to be, and now I’m just sitting down and drawing it, which is my favourite bit. I’m really excited about what’s going to happen towards the end of the story, but it’s also very bittersweet. I also feel it’s absolutely the right time for it to end. It’s very sad, but it’s time.”
Heartstopper season 4 would be the final season.
Of course, should Netflix renew Heartstopper for season 4, we can expect it to follow the events of Alice Oseman’s final volume, plus the Nick and Charlie novella. Oseman has already revealed that she’s desperate for Netflix to give the show its due and green-light a fourth season.
Shad the following to say on her Patreon page:
“If we get a fourth season of the show, it will use volume 6 of Heartstopper and the Nick and Charlie novella as the source material. I am very much hoping that there will be a fourth season, so the show gets to have a proper ending! I’m praying to the gods! Begging on my knees! Having nightmares about it regularly, etc!”
Heartstopper Season 2 Netflix Jpg
As the showrunner on the series, Oseman will pen the season 4 script concurrently with writing the final book. Naturally, this has created a race against time. “I will most likely be drawing Vol 6 simultaneously while writing the season 4 scripts, even if we haven’t been renewed,” she wrote. “And the other thing that I have to keep in mind is that I really, extremely, devoutly need the Volume 6 book to come out before season 4 comes out, so people experience the end of the story from the books first. So there’s a timer counting down now.
Discussing what fans can expect from the final instalment, Oseman explains that it may not be as larger than life as other stories. This is to say, don’t expect another adventure akin to Nick and Charlie’s trip to Paris. Rather, it’ll be a more intimate, character-focused volume. As a result of this, Oseman is worried that some fans may not connect as much with the volume:
“I’m scared about this volume not having a big new villain or a big adventure like the Paris trip, because I know there will be people who read it and be like ‘huh that was boring. nothing happened’. I know that was some people’s reaction to Vol 5. I am just scared of negative reactions, always. You’d think being an author for 10+ years would eradicate that. It does not!”
I think Netflix will likely renew Heartstopper for a fourth and final season. Filming requires a much smaller scale of production than other shows. And the history of its performance on the streamer suggests that a renewal is only a matter of time away—especially if season 3’s numbers compare to the previous seasons.
The Heartstopper season 3 cast appears hopeful of a renewal.
Besides Alice Oseman, the cast is desperate for Netflix to give the fourth season the green light. For instance, when filming on season 3 wrapped back in December 2023, Joe Locke took to his Instagram story to implore Netflix to renew the show. “Bye for now Charlie warlie x,” he wrote, sharing a behind-the-scenes image. He followed up the story with another, stating, “I’ll stop now, sorry Netflix.” Getting yourself in Netflix’s good books is one easy strategy, I suppose, but the “for now” seems ominous.
joe locke via insta story – “bye for now charlie warlie x” pic.twitter.com/otqqaaNXGi
— daily joe locke (@dailyjlocke) December 13, 2023
Everyone desperately wants to see Heartstopper get renewed through the story’s natural conclusion. How do you think Heartstopper will end? Let us know in the comments below!