Hello, you – for the final time. The upcoming Netflix schedule will soon include You Season 5 – or at least within the next year.
After four seasons of insane moments that made us stare at the screen in shock, questions we need answered, and so much more, You is coming to an end with Season 5.
But, what exactly is the deal with You Season 5? When is it going to come out? Who is going to come back? For many of your questions about the next installment of the show, here is what we know so far.
What Is The You Season 5 Premiere Date?
At the time of updating this in August 2024, a premiere date hasn’t been announced, but we do know that the intention is for the show to release in 2024, according to Tudum. However, at the time of updating this, there is still no confirmation just yet on exact dates.
The You Season 5 Cast
With any show like You, the cast is hands-down always so important, and thankfully, we know exactly who will be in the You Season 5 cast:
Penn Badgley as Joe
Obviously, it wouldn’t be You without the main man himself, Joe, coming back – or whatever new name he decides to take on. Joe has been played by Penn Badgley since the first season, so of course, he will be back for Season 5 of the show.
Badgley even spoke about how he was ready for the show to end in an interview with IndieWire:
It feels to me like we need to do another season. It feels to me like Joe needs to get what’s coming to him, and now he has further to fall because he has all this power and wealth. But of course, that’s not up to me. I don’t know where it’s going. But to me, with this concept and with this character, we always wanted to be responsible and it’s not just the kind of thing we can let keep going because it’s doing well.
This was right before it was announced the fifth season would be the last, so it looks like Badgley is getting his wish.
Madeline Brewer as Bronte
According to Deadline in March 2024, it was confirmed that Madeline Brewer would play Bronte in You Season 5. The character is described as an “enigmatic and free-spirited playwright” who becomes an employee at Joe’s bookstore and the two connect over literature and more. The actress has appeared in shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Orange is the New Black.
Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Galvin
Thanks to set photos (via Digital Spy), we know that Charlotte Ritchie will be back as Kate Galvin for You Season 5. Considering her and Joe are living together in New York City during the You Season 4 ending, it would be pretty shocking if she wasn’t there but she is. Also pictured in these photos is child actor Frankie Demaio, whose role has not been confirmed yet, but fans theorize that it could be Joe’s estranged son. However, nothing has been announced.
Anna Camp as Raegan and Maddie Lockwood
Reported by Variety in March 2024, Anna Camp will be in You Season 5. She will play twin sisters-in-law to Joe, and per the site, Raegan is the “cutthroat CFO of the Lockwood Corp” and Maddie is a “socialite” who’s been divorced three times and “vaguely” does public relations. Camp is known for her roles in the Pitch Perfect franchise, Mad Men, True Blood and more.
Griffin Matthews as Teddy Lockwood
That Variety article also confirmed that Griffin Matthews would play Teddy Lockwood in You Season 5. He’s the brother-in-law to Joe, and a confidante. He’s appeared in Genius, The Flight Attendant, Dear White People and more.
Tati Gabrielle as Marienne
Now, thanks to more set photos from filming (via What’sOnNetflix), we know that Tati Gabrielle, who played Marienne, will return in Season 5. Gabrielle spoke with Digital Spy in March 2023 about the opportunity to return, saying she would love to come back for the fifth season, saying the character “hasn’t gotten her peace:”
I would love to come back again. I feel like she hasn't gotten her piece yet, and I do think she deserves that. She's had a hard life, man. She just needs a break. I would love to see more for Marienne. If she's not part of taking down Joe, I just want her to be able to witness it.
And now, it looks like she’ll be back in some way.
Nava Mau as Detective Marquez
According to Deadline in July 2024, Nava Mau will play Detective Marquez in You Season 5 – which, of course, means that Joe will run into the law at some point and I am here for it. Nava Mau recently broke out thanks to her role in Baby Reindeer, and earned a historic Emmy nomination as well.
Additional New Cast Members
Deadline also confirmed four additional cast members for You Season 5 in May 2024. These include:
- Natasha Behnam as Dominique, a hipster who’s the caretaker in her friend group and “fiercely loyal.”
- Pete Ploszek as Harrison, Joe’s brother-in-law, and the “trophy husband” to Reagan Lockwood (Anna Camp).
- Tom Francis as Clayton, a “wannabe author” who gets the attention of Joe.
- b as Phoenix, a person whose life was “upended by tragedy” and sent them to New York.
With a cast like this, who knows what You Season 5 might entail. While these cast members are all confirmed, there could be some that might appear – as we theorize down below.
Possible Past Characters Could Come Back For The Last Season
There are possibilities of other characters from past seasons showing up, which has happened in past seasons, and today, we’ll get into likely scenarios and who could possibly return in Season 5 for this final tango with Joe:
Jenna Ortega as Ellie
I feel like this is wishful thinking at this point, but I would love to see Jenna Ortega return as Ellie for just a bit. She was such a great character in Season 2 and Joe basically forced her out of the country when Delilah was killed. My poor girl needs her vengeance.
Jenna Ortega even said she wanted to go back for the fourth season but filming for Wednesday got in the way – and I doubt she’ll have the time now to do so. But a girl can dream. Maybe a guest appearance?
Victoria Pedretti as Love
As we saw in the last few episodes of Season 4, Victoria Pedretti had a guest appearance as Love in a vision, so she could come back in some form for Joe. I could totally see it, and considering fans all over the world genuinely love the heck out of this character, her having one last laugh at Joe might be what the doctor ordered.
Elizabeth Lail as Guinevere Beck
We also saw Elizabeth Lail as Beck again at the end of You Season 4. It was another hallucination but who knows what Joe might get up to in Season 5? Beck could make one last appearance in that bookshop of his.
Amy Leigh Hickman as Nadia
It might be a bit of stretch, but I could also see Nadia coming back in some way in Season 5 of You. While she was locked away at the end (framed for Joe’s murder of her close friend/lover), I could see her trying to find a way out. And Hickman has agreed with it too.
In an interview with Digital Spy in March 2023, she said that she believes Nadia is really capable of anything after Season 4, and thinks her story isn’t done:
I would love to come back and play her again. I think that if she can pull off everything she did in season 4, there's not much she can't do. So I wouldn't put anything past her, I wouldn't past Joe as well. I think that's something they have in common, weirdly.
Quite honestly, anyone who isn’t dead could come back, at least according to Sera Gamble in an interview with People in February 2023. The former showrunner hinted that anyone who Joe hasn’t killed is “fair game” to return for the show:
Any character who's not dead who knows anything about Joe, it's fair game to try to exert any justice. And any character who is dead, [Joe] has a really active imagination.
Penn Badgley also brought up the idea of his past coming back to haunt him in a Netflix Tudum teaser he did for You Season 5 during an event in June 2023, saying that there were “many loose ends from Joe’s past” that could wind up appearing in Season 5.
I mean, that just screams that someone from past seasons will return.
There are a variety of faces we could see – and now, we just have to wait and wonder who Joe might run into.
What Is You Season 5 Going To Be About?
The whole entire second-half of You Season 4 had me on the edge of my seat, because we finally saw Joe start to really embrace his dark side, as played by another of the You Season 4 cast members. In the final minutes, we see that person appear again, signaling that it might be the start of Joe beginning to not try and make excuses for who he is anymore – or even attempting to change.
In an interview from the Tudum article on the renewal, Badgley talked about the end of the season, and how he feels that it sets up an epic finale for Joe:
I think it sets us up to actually have a really great finale season. Can his inner monologue evolve some now? What does it mean for him to accept himself?
There was also an interview done with BuzzFeed News regarding the finale in March 2023, and how the finale really sets up the story of Joe becoming a more emotionless killer because now, he’s accepted “what he needs to do,” according to Sera Gamble:
He's a little bit different in that he doesn't maybe have the same level of almost guilt and justification going on, just honesty and acceptance of doing what he needs to do. The thing that's scary about Joe isn't that he's some dead-eyed, emotionless murderer because he's not.
We also know that You Season 5 will take place in New York. It was always already confirmed by Netflix, but thanks to those set pictures, we know for sure that we’re back in the city where all of this started.
Former showrunner for the show, Sera Gamble, talked about how they were excited to bring Joe back to NYC in the finale with New York Post, saying it was “full-circle” and could be explored in many new ways:
We really like the idea of Joe coming full circle to New York, but being in such a different position – being among the people he was judging as a Brooklyn boy in Season 1, and having unlimited resources, but also having lost the anonymity that helped him get away with everything he got away with the last time that he was in New York.
We also know that Kate and Joe are now living together, with apparently “no secrets,” but Sera Gamble was quick to say that the audience should not expect Kate to know everything about Joe in Season 5, according to an interview that she did with BuzzFeed News in March 2023, saying that we should not expect Kate to “know everything” – trouble in paradise? Always, with this man.
I mean, if it’s the final season, we can at least think Joe will get in trouble, right? Nope! That’s not even a guarantee, because in an interview with E! News in March 2023, Sera Gamble was quick to explain that justice might not be in the cards for Joe – it’s a big reason as to why they didn’t kill of Joe in the Season 4 finale, because sometimes justice isn’t served:
It's fun to write him as very appealing and like a romantic hero, but when we are looking at the facts of the case in a conversation with Penn or with the writers, we're just like, 'This person is horrible. They need to be punished.' But the world is full of horrible men like Joe, who will never, ever, ever be punished. So there's a certain discipline that we have to have…after seasons of holding ourselves to a certain standard of honesty about this, we can't just turn around and throw him in maximum security prison or throw him off a bridge for good. We have to think a little bit more deeply about what we're really saying about someone like him.
Man, I just want to see him get arrested just once. Is that too much to ask? I can’t wait to see what this season has for us.
Michael Foley And Justin W. Lo Are The New Showrunners For You Season 5
Another big piece of news that came with the renewal of the show is that the showrunner for the first four seasons, Sera Gamble, is stepping down to work on other projects. In a statement she released, she said that making the show was “ridiculously fun” but it was time for her to focus on new opportunities.
Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo, who have both written for the drama, are going to be acting as co-showrunners for the final season, so it’ll be in good hands.
You Season 5 Was Currently Filming As Of July 2024
You Season 5 actually began filming in March 2024, thanks to a post on Netflix’s Instagram account that confirmed the news:
As of July 2024, thanks to more filming pictures taken (via TV Insider), we know that filming was still ongoing.
What are you the most excited for when it comes to You Season 5? I know 2024 is somehow already here, but we must be patient. Now I just need to re-watch the first few seasons again and again.
