After a cancellation and countless campaigns, missing plane drama Manifest is coming back for a Season 4 later this year on Netflix. The series follows the passengers of Flight 828 who went missing for 5 ½ years and were presumed to be dead. After they came back, none of them had aged a day but they all inherited an ability to hear Callings to be able to save people and each other.
So, just what will the fourth season of Manifest consist of? From a new platform to cast replacements, there are plenty of things to know about the series before it comes back following the cliffhanger of a third season finale. Here is what to expect from Season 4 of Manifest.
Season 4 Of Manifest Will Be On Netflix
Despite initially passing on Manifest, Netflix did end up picking up the series for a fourth and final season, announcing it on none other than 828 Day on August 28. Netflix has saved series from cancellations before, including Designated Survivor and Lucifer, both in 2018. The latter saw major success on the streamer, where it saw three additional seasons. Manifest has already seen success on Netflix after the first three seasons were added, and talks started back up later in summer 2021 until they ultimately came to the decision that made everyone happy.
There Will Be 20 Episodes
The upcoming fourth season will be a “super-sized” one and include 20 episodes, THR reported. This is more than what most Netflix shows have for a single season but considering that Manifest was originally planned to have six seasons, it’s not surprising. It’s unknown how the episodes will be split up, but it seems likely it’ll just be 10 episodes for the first half and 10 episodes for the second half. It’s important to note that this is also the biggest season of the series, as Season 1 had 16 episodes while Seasons 2 and 3 only had 13.
Athena Karkanis And Jack Messina Will Not Be Returning
While the majority of the cast will be returning, there are two that won’t be, and for good reason. Following the Season 3 finale where Grace Stone (Athena Karkanis) was stabbed to death and her son, Cal (Jack Messina) returned 5 ½ years older after touching the Tailfin, Karkanis and Messina will not be coming back. Messina even wished his former TV family and crew good luck with the upcoming season on social media. But with two main stars exiting, there will be a couple additions for the final season.
Daryl Edwards And Ty Doran Were Promoted To Series Regulars
With Athena Karkanis and Jack Messina leaving, two actors are being promoted. Daryl Edwards, who portrays NSA Director Robert Vance has finally been upped to series regular after appearing as a recurring character for the show’s first three seasons. Meanwhile, now that Cal is older, Ty Doran, who appeared as Cal in the final minutes of Season 3, will be replacing Messina. This means that the two will have a bigger part in Season 4 and with the truth about Flight 828 getting closer, anything can happen.
Season 4 Happened After Netflix Popularity
Following NBC’s surprise decision to cancel Manifest, fans made it their mission to use campaigns to try to give the show a second life. Though, the show got saved largely because of how popular it became on Netflix. After the first two seasons were made available, the series skyrocketed to the top of the chart, nearly breaking a major record at one point. Netflix didn’t pick up the series at first but after seeing how popular it was doing, fans were hopeful that the streamer would reverse the decision. Following a long and agonizing summer, news broke in late August that Manifest was indeed saved.
Production On Manifest Season 4 Was Underway In November 2021
Just before 2021 came to an end, the cast and crew of Manifest went back to work to begin production on the fourth and final season in November. Much of the cast excitedly posted photos to their social media from the table read, and creator Jeff Rake got in on the “We’re back” action by posting a BTS photo on Twitter from set in New York City.
AND WE’RE BACK!#Manifest pic.twitter.com/HpSpeKI0I2November 18, 2021
Manifest Creator Jeff Rake Is Confident He’ll Be Able To Finish The Story With The Last 20 Episodes
Manifest originally had a six-season plan, which came to an abrupt hold when NBC canceled the series. Now that Netflix picked it up for a 20-episode final season, could this mean that not everything will be included? Fear not, because even while Manifest was in limbo, creator Jeff Rake was coming up with multiple ways that the show can have a proper finale that includes telling the story the way it’s supposed to be told. And that won’t change with only 20 episodes left, as he told EW:
When I've talked in the past about having a roadmap all the way to the end of series, that didn't mean that I had a roadmap for literally every single episode. I have a roadmap with a series of twists and turns and flags in the sand that we would ultimately hit in order to tell the core stories within our mythology and within our relationship drama. So it will not be a particularly difficult exercise to overlay that same exact roadmap onto 20 episodes. It will be quite organic.
That’s about everything we know about the upcoming fourth and final season of Manifest right now. While we wait for a premiere date for the new season, if you want to know what else is coming out on Netflix in 2022, check out CinemaBlend's Netflix original series release guide for all the up-to-date information on what else is coming to the platform this year.
