Kingdom Season 3: From release date to plot to cast, here is everything you need to know about the third season of Netflix’s South Korean period drama series Kingdom.
- Debuted on Jan 15, 2019, Kingdom is Netflix’s first original Korean series.
- The second season premiered on March 13, 2020., followed by a special feature-length episode titled “Ashin of the North” released on July 23, 2021.
South Korean series and movies have gained a lot of popularity across the globe thanks to digital platforms. Netflix is a leader when it comes to global content. The digital giant has a huge collection of Korean shows and movies and one of the best among them is Kingdom. Launched on Jan 15, 2019, Kingdom is Netflix’s first original Korean series. The series is adapted from the webcomic series The Kingdom of the Gods, written by Kim Eun-hee and drawn by Yang Kyung-il.
Directed by Kim Eun-hee, Kingdom has received a superb response from the audience across the world. After the success of the first season, Netflix renewed the series for a second season that debuted on March 13, 2020.
It’s been more than two years since the second season dropped on Netflix and the fans now concerned about whether their favorite Korean drama returns for a third season. Well, it is not an easy question to analyze. Here’s everything we know about Kingdom Season 3.
Kingdom season 3 renewal status
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Kim Eun-hee said, “Strangely enough, Kingdom is a series that gives me more energy the more I write it. The cast and crew all have great chemistry, and there’s so much more to tell. If viewers allow, I would love to see it develop even up to season 10.”
As of July 2022, Netflix has not officially renewed or canceled “Kingdom” for a third season yet. With how fast the first two seasons were released, many fans were expecting Kingdom Season 3 to arrive in 2021.
Well, the delay has something to do with the current worldwide situation. The show centers around the pandemic and for the last two years, the whole world is actually facing it. No one wants to watch a show about a deadly plague during a worldwide pandemic.
“Because the series deals with a pandemic, I think it’s inevitable that the show is compared to the current reality and affected by it, whether it be good or bad,” Kingdom writer Kim Eun-hee told The Hollywood Reporter. “Although the series is a product of the creators’ wild imagination, I hope the epidemic will soon be under control like in our series.”
One more reason, Netflix hasn’t renewed the show yet, is the decline in the ratings. While the first two seasons received tremendous response, the follow-up special “Ashin of the North” failed to make much impact. It even failed to make it to the top ten in America and the UK (Via FlixPatrol). So, this is one of the business reasons, Netflix hasn’t greenlit season three yet.
Kingdom Season 3 Release Date
Since a special episode titled “Kingdom: Ashin of the North” was released in 2021, many fans are assured that Season 3 is already in production. Kingdom: Ashin of the North explored the backstory of a new Season 2 character Ashin played by Jun Ji-hyun.
At an event in early 2021, the director of Kingdom Kim Sung Hoon said, “Kingdom: Ashin of the North [the upcoming special episode] will be a stepping stone to go beyond Kingdom 3.”
Kingdom is one of the top-rated shows on Netflix with a superb Rotten Tomatoes score. It has a huge global fanbase. With creators planning for more stories to explore, it is just a matter of time before we get an official update on the third season. Fans can expect Kingdom Season 3 to premiere sometime from Fall 2022 to Summer 2023.
Kingdom Season 3 Cast: Who will be in it?
In the second season, many cast members fall victim to the plague, so they would not be returning. No announcement regarding season 3 has been made. So, we would see regular cast members returning for the next season. We can assume Ashin will be the villain, which means Jun Ji-Hyun will also return. Here’s a look at the cast:
- Ju Ji-Hoon as Crown Prince Lee Chang
- Bae Doona as Seo-bi
- Kim Sung-kyu as Yeong-shin
- Jeon Seok-ho as Cho Beom-pa
- Ahn Eun-jin as Mu-Yeong’s wife
Kingdom Season 3 plot: What will happen next?
In the same interviews where screenwriter Kim Eun-hee discussed Jun Ji Hyun’s role in Kingdom, she revealed a little of what we can expect from the third season:
“Those who have watched will know, but people like Lee Chang, Seo-bi, and Yeong-shin are all people who chase the plague, wishing it never arose,” she told Soompi. “I’ve thought that having season three tell the story of chasing the origin of the plague would be good, so we’re thinking of doing that.”
“Season one told the story of hunger and season two told the story of blood. If Netflix agrees, I want season three to tell the story of resentment. Season two brought attention to the concept of ‘temperature’ and I think if the story were to travel north, the different ecosystem in the North would act as a hint.”
In the last scene of the second season, South Korean star Jun Ji Hyun appeared in a mysterious new role. She will have a prominent role in the next season. Season 3 will pick up from where season 2 concluded i.e. seven years and three months after the initial zombie outbreak. It would be interesting to see what Jun Ji Hyun’s character is up to.
How many episodes will be there in season 3?
Kingdom is an expensive show. The production value is high. Though Netflix understands that the demand is high for a longer season, the budget constraints are there. The first and second seasons had 6 episodes each and we may see the series return with another six episodes.
We will keep updating this post with the latest news on Kingdom season 3. Would you like to see the third season of Kingdom? While we wait, you can watch Kingdom seasons 1 and 2 on Netflix.
