Orville Season 3 Release Date Status Set To June 2022: Cast, Plot, And Latest Updates

By Camille Fodor On May 15, 2022 0

When it came out in 2017, Seth MacFarlane’s science fiction sitcom “The Orville,” which takes place on a spaceship exploring the stars, was a unique surprise. MacFarlane has always been best known for “Family Guy,” a long-running cartoon for adults. But the funny actor has been a “Star Trek” fan for as long as he can remember, and it shows in “The Orville,” which always felt like a love letter to the famous franchise, even when it used the idea of exploring space to make dark and weird jokes.

“The Orville’s” first two seasons, the last of which ended in 2019, asked many of the same philosophical and moral questions that “Star Trek’s” best episodes did. Even though the jokes were coming at warp speed, the show got pretty deep. It asked questions about the role of religion in society and when it might be a good idea to interfere with the development of an alien culture. Fans loved “The Orville” and all of its memorable characters, led by Seth MacFarlane as Captain Ed Mercer.

Since Season 2 of “The Orville” ended more than two years ago, fans have been wondering what will happen next with the sci-fi comedy show. But recently, we’ve been getting more and more information about “The Orville’s” next set of episodes, which will be called “The Orville: New Horizons.” So, here’s what we know so far about Season 3 of “The Orville,” including when it will come out, who will be in it, and a sneak peek at the trailer.

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The Orville season 3 Release Date:

Even though filming for Season 3 of “The Orville” began in the fall of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the production back by more than two years. Before the pandemic, only half of the season had been filmed. This stopped all movie and TV productions across the board. In fact, the production had to stop in the middle of filming an episode, which made Seth MacFarlane joke, “One episode is going to be so bad that between one scene and the next, people are going to gain 20 pounds and grow long white beards” (via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on YouTube). Season 3 was shot for the last time in August 2021.

And we’re back! Season 3 filming has officially started. #TheOrville 💫 pic.twitter.com/jkMx19WbiE
— The Orville (@TheOrville) December 4, 2020

Also, “The Orville” used to air on the Fox television network, but since Disney bought 21st Century Fox, the next season will only be available on Hulu. That’s not bad news, since Hulu has been adding more and more great shows recently. With so many things going on, it’s not surprising that Season 3’s release date has been pushed back more than once.

But in February, Hulu told its fans that it finally had a real date to share. If everything goes as planned, Season 3 of “The Orville” will be available to stream on June 2, which is late this spring.

The Orville season 3 episodes: How many will there be?

Season one – 12 episodes
Season two – 14 episodes
Season three – 11 episodes

Cinemablend says that even though there are fewer episodes in the third season, each one will be at least 10 minutes longer.

Who’s in the cast of The Orville Season 3?

The big teaser for “The Orville: New Horizons” is the first episode’s opening credits from Season 3, which have been updated visually and show the main cast. Most of the fans’ favorite characters will be back, which will make them very happy. Seth MacFarlane is still the hotshot captain of the Orville, Ed Mercer, and Adrianne Palicki is back as his first officer and ex-wife, Commander Kelly Grayson.

The rest of the crew is also here. Penny Johnson Gerald plays Dr. Claire Finn, the ship’s medical officer. Marcus and Ty, her sons, are played by BJ Tanner and Kai Wener. Scott Grimes is still here as Lieutenant Gordon Malloy, Mercer’s friend, and a fellow officer. Malloy is sometimes forgetful. Lieutenant Commander Bortus, a fan favorite alien bridge officer, is back. He is still played by Peter Macon under layers of prosthetics. Lieutenant Talla Keyali is still played by Jessica Szohr, and Lieutenant Commander John Lamarr is played again by J Lee. Lastly, Anne Winters is back as Ensign Charly Burke and Mark Jackson is back as Isaac, the ship’s robot that hates living things.

Halston Sage, who used to play Lieutenant Alara Kitan, is not listed in the title credits, which is a shame. Sage’s character, an alien who is very strong but always worried, got a lot of attention on “The Orville,” but she left the show in the middle of Season 2.

Notably, the late comedian Norm Macdonald was the voice of Lieutenant Yaphet, a sentient blob of goo that looks like mucus and has been the source of some of the show’s most bizarre jokes. Yaphet will be back for Season 3, making him one of Norm Macdonald’s last roles. The “SNL” alum finished doing voiceover work for the character before he died (via Deadline).

The Orville season 3 plot

At the moment, not much is known about what the next set of episodes will be about. However, Goodman has said that he would like to look into how Isaac’s choices in “Identity” and “Identity Part II” affected other people (season two: episodes eight and nine).

“Are there going to be repercussions for what Isaac did? We didn’t do any repercussions in season two, so that is a question for season three,” he said.

He told Trek Movie, “We are still going to make episodes that stand alone. But we have now shown that we can go deeper into the Union, the aliens, and our characters. So, we’re going to keep building.

“But once more, it’s very important to us that the show stays true to its format… You don’t want people who have never seen the show to get confused. We always try to do that. We don’t want to turn away anyone who is new to our audience.”

He said this about any questions viewers might have after watching season two: “There are things in the first couple of [season three] episodes that explain some things and answer questions people might have had at the start of season two.”

On Twitter, MacFarlane also told a fan that season three will “raise the stakes.”

“All the things we’ve set up in the previous seasons, without naming them — the big and small stories we’ve gone back to more than once — will be clear to any fans of the show,” Goodman told Ars.

“We’re making the characters and stories bigger by adding to what we’ve already done.”

He also talked about how important it is to take it seriously when you need to.

Goodman said that the show couldn’t just be fun space action. “Commenting on society and social norms is almost something we think of like our job. People watch because of the people in it. The show is really driven by these sad stories.”

When it was announced that the show would be back in March 2022, a teaser trailer was also released. It shows a few things.

First, the name of the show has changed. It is now called The Orville: New Horizons.

And second, if the teaser is any indication, this season will have a lot more drama. The bridge from The Orville and two empty seats are shown in the trailer, and lines from the show play in the background. As the blue lights in the cabin change to a scary red, the voices get louder and more dramatic until they say, “You will surrender or you will die.” So, we’re afraid.

Is there a trailer for The Orville Season 3?

In February, Hulu gave us our best look yet at “The Orville: New Horizons” by giving us a sneak peek of the first few minutes of Season 3 Episode 1 all the way through the opening credits. It starts with a chaotic space battle that feels more like “Star Wars” than “Star Trek,” right down to the tense horns and strings in the background music that sound like they were made by John Williams.

Dozens of ships are fighting above the surface of a big asteroid or moon. Lasers are flying in all directions. One ship from the Planetary Union crashes with a big explosion, and then the Orville is hit.