Had anyone but Lucifer fans been told that the supernatural drama's axing would be one of the most disputed TV cancellations in recent years, there would have been some doubting Thomases. But the outsized fan uproar could not be denied, which is what influenced Netflix to step in and grant Lucifer a fourth season. The ink is still drying on that deal, but co-showrunners Joe Henderson and Ildy Modrovich are already able to get viewers pumped about what we can expect to see from Season 4.
Episode Counts and Sizes
Going from a broadcast network to a premium streaming service, Lucifer could feasibly see all kinds of variations and structural changes, but then that wouldn't exactly be giving fans the show they fought to save. It's confirmed that Lucifer Season 4 will last for ten episodes, which is even shorter than the company's usual 13-or-so-episode order for mass appeal projects. And here's what Ildy Modrovich told TVLine about whether or not the episodes' lengths will change for the move to Netflix.
We'll probably stick roughly to our 43 minutes. That's part of what we're going to talk to Netflix about. I think we might have a bit of room for flexibility, hopefully, so if there's a scene we love and we don't want to cut it, we're hoping that now we won't have to. But we're not suddenly going to have hour-and-a-half episodes!
Without the usual commercial break format to adhere to, Lucifer's creative team is heading into uncharted waters. Scenes won't technically need to be written to lead into frequent act breaks, which could change up the rhythm and the pacing. And if some of the eps happen to go longer than any of the Fox installments did, fans aren't going to complain about it.
How Season 4 Plans Changed For Netflix
As the Lucifer writers were finding ways to end the season, everyone had obviously started forming early ideas for where Season 4 could go after that major final scene where Lucifer finally showed his true face to Chloe. And it sounds like the general plan will stay the same for the move to Netflix, with the ten-episode order set to tell what would have been the first half of the season on Fox. (Namely, the aftermath of that final moment, and how Chloe would have dealt with this newfound realization.) According to the co-showrunners:
Modrovich: We were going to have two parts to it anyway, so we'll just tell a really strong, gnarly first part.Henderson: [Doing so] lets us concentrate the story and focus it, and that's what's really exciting about this. We have a really strong first half that is now going to make for an amazing story.
Interestingly, Joe Henderson says there is a chance that the intstallment "Boo Normal," which was aired post-finale as one of two bonus episodes, could possibly enter into the Season 4 run if they can figure out a way to work the Ella-focused ep into the overall story for the new season. We shouldn't expect the same to happen from the more standalone "Once Upon a Time," which was directed by series star Kevin Alejandro.
When Production Will Start
As fun as being excited for Season 4 can be, fans are now interested in finding out just when the new episodes will make their way to our eyeballs. Ever the hider of release dates, Netflix obviously isn't posting anything concrete just yet, but Ildy Modrovich believes Lucifer will go back into production in August, which is roughly the same time when the Fox-based production would start up. Since Netflix has to finish up all of its episodes ahead of the batch releases, we probably won't get Season 4 right when the broadcast midseason shows start up. But perhaps it won't be too excruciating a wait after that.
And just to round things out, Ildy Modrovich assures fans that Netflix didn't pick up Season 4 with the express interest of making it a final send-off season, and that there is "always the potential for more," assuming Lucifer proves popular enough to warrant a Season 5. Lucifer still has a lot of story ground to cover, and the next ten episodes could be the most hellaciously fun ones yet. So be sure to let Netflix know that you're interested, and that you're watching.
Lucifer Seasons 1-3 can currently be streamed on Hulu, though conversations are reportedly happening to get those first three seasons streaming on Netflix in the near future. While waiting for new episodes, head to our summer premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are on the way.
