The Roy family is at war, and it appears that each side has an unlikely ally.
On Friday, Sept. 17, HBO released a tense new look at Succession's upcoming third season, which premieres in exactly one month. And, much like the teasers before it, the new trailer reveals the civil war brewing among the Roys following the double-crossing decision Kendall (Jeremy Strong) made in season two.
"My family have disappeared," patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) snaps. "I need to know where everyone is and what everyone is thinking."
While Kendall appears confident in his decision to take on Logan, his siblings are less than sold. "You sound deranged," Siobhan (Sarah Snook) tells her smug brother.
Yet, Kendall's actions may backfire, as he could be implicated in his father's cover-up crimes and the family could lose everything. No, really. That is Shiv's main concern in the trailer!
Here's where Succession newcomers Alexander Skarsgård and Adrien Brody come in...
As chaos plagues the Roys, Roman (Kieran Culkin) meets with Lukas Matsson (Skarsgård), who is described as a powerful, albeit confrontational, tech CEO. And, boy, does he live up to this tease!
"When will your father die?" he bluntly asks the youngest Roy son. "With due respect, obviously."
Responding in kind, Roman retorts, "No, no, no. Yeah. Obviously, hugely looking forward to my father dying."
Meanwhile, Logan meets with Josh Aaronson (Brody), a billionaire activist investor who seems less than impressed with the Roy family civil war. "I thought my family was f--ked up," he says, "this is next level."
Other trailer highlights? Tom (Matthew Macfadyen) giving Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) "cyanide pills" and Logan going full "beast" mode.
Watch the compelling new trailer for yourself above!
For everything we know about season three, scroll through the images below.
In June 2021, Casey Bloys, who is HBO and HBO Max's Chief Content Officer, confirmed that season three will premiere in fall 2021. And, in August of that same year, HBO shared that the premiere would drop in October.
It was later confirmed that the season three premiere would be on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. on HBO.
In the season two finale of Succession, Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) teamed up with seemingly unassuming Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun) to unveil the Roy family secrets on-air. According to HBO, the new season will find Kendall and Logan going head-to-head in a Shakespearian battle. "Ambushed by his rebellious son Kendall at the end of Season 2, Logan Roy begins Season 3 in a perilous position," an official statement reads. "Scrambling to secure familial, political, and financial alliances, tensions rise as a bitter corporate battle threatens to turn into a family civil war."
Could season three finally be the start of Kendall taking over Waystar, or will he join PGM to bury his family once and for all? Cue up some more Rhea Jarrell (Holly Hunter) cameos!
Logan Roy (Brian Cox) always knows more than he lets on. In real life, Cox confirmed that production for season three was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. He even teased that HBO has been "very protective" of the series. "We'll get going, but not until maybe November at the soonest, maybe even not until the beginning of next year," Cox speculated to The Big Issue in October 2020. Co-star Alan Ruck later clarified that production resumed in November 2020.
Sarah Snook, who plays Shiv Roy, told Variety that the series will most likely feature the coronavirus epidemic. "I think it's a thing that everybody's aware of, and audiences are really intuitive these days," Snook explained. "Even just seeing a mask in the background of something or hand sanitizer, those things that have become part of our daily lives, those things maybe, but nothing that is so overt that is going to really tackle it head on, because that's not the show. We want to see the Roys doing the thing that they've been doing that we love, not pivoting towards a pandemic story."
Nicholas Braun might be bringing his offscreen posse onscreen. He shared on Instagram that Cousin Greg officially is "an employee of this company, and that's about all I can say about that!" The star has also been spending time with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina lead Kiernan Shipka around NYC, plus she even covered his COVID-19 themed ballad. Could Cousin Greg be getting a witchy sidekick? We're just doing some wishful thinking here, but Shipka stunned on Mad Men so we know she certainly can navigate well with corporate titans.
Kieran Culkin reprises his scene-stealing role as resident bad boy Roman Roy. Patriarch Brian Cox teased that fans will get to see more of Roman's "mettle" in season three. "I think he's the hidden gun under the table," Cox said to Deadline. We just want to more of the Gerri (J Smith-Cameron) love triangle!
Writer Lucy Prebble also revealed to Deadline that the series will be "going more international" to show the "relationship between the media industry and international countries" and how media is consumed on a global scale. "The way international countries input, control and fund the media in ways that aren't talked about as clearly as they should be," Prebble explained.
Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan is slated to direct an episode. "V happy to be working on my favorite show!!" Yan retweeted after pal Ali Wong spilled the tea on Instagram.
There are plenty of new cast members to keep fans intrigued. Adrien Brody will guest star as Josh Aaronson, "a billionaire activist investor who becomes pivotal in the battle for the ownership of Waystar," as reported by Variety. Fresh off of Big Little Lies, the icy Alexander Skarsgård is set to join the ensemble cast in the role of Lukas Matsson who is described as a "successful, confrontational tech founder and CEO."
Love & Basketball's Sanaa Lathan confirmed on Instagram that she is playing New York lawyer Lisa Arthur. Plus, Korean pop star Jihae Kim is joining as public relations specialist Berry Schneider, along with senior White House aide Michelle-Anne Vanderhoven (Linda Emond). Audiences are already familiar with Justine Lupe, David Rasche and Hugo Baker who have all been promoted to series regulars.
Brian Cox does know what is going to happen...but he's the only one in the cast who does. "It's jolly thrilling. That's all I can say," Cox teased. Can we get a hint? Just one, please!