‘The Bear’ season 3 release window, cast, news, and more

Good news for fans craving another season of The Bear — Hulu and Disney Plus are serving up another season soon. Amidst all the disruption in TV production, there are many uncertainties over what a third season of the critically acclaimed drama series will look like. To whet your appetite, here’s what we know so far.

The Bear season 3 release window

Originally, the season was meant to release at midnight on Thursday, June 27. However, a few days before it goes live, the showrunners announced it would actually debut on June 26, 9pm ET and 6pm PT. All 10 episodes will become available when that countdown ends.

Filming began for the third season of The Bear in Feb. 2024, a month after a deal was struck with the Writers and Actors’ Guilds, after months of strikes beginning in May of last year.

The Bear season 3 cast

For now, it seems that every main cast member is returning for season 3. This includes, but is not limited to, Jeremy Allen White (Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto), Ayo Edebiri (Sydney Adamu), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Richard “Richie/Cousin” Jerimovich), Lionel Boyce (Marcus Brooks), and Liza Colón-Zayas (Tina Marrero) as the main kitchen crew. Edwin Lee Gibson (Ebraheim) and Corey Hendrix (Gary “Sweeps” Woods) are billed as recurring cast members, but this may change in season 3.

Helping out the staff at the Beef restaurant in Chicago will likely include Abby Elliott (Natalie “Sugar” Rose Berzatto), Matty Matheson (Neil Fak), Oliver Platt (Jimmy “Cicero/Uncle” Kalinowski), and Molly Gordon (Claire).

Any changes to the main cast, such as actors being promoted from series regular to main character, or new characters being introduced, are seemingly under wraps for now, with no new casting announcements.

Will Poulter, who guest starred in season 2 as Luca, the friendly chef Marcus met and trained with in Copenhagen, has been spotted working at a real-life restaurant, and then confirmed to return in season three.

If call-backs are a frequent theme in the new season, there’s every chance Jon Bernthal, Olivia Colman, Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Sarah Paulson could return to do more guest star appearances.

The Bear season 3 news

We know a few tidbits about the forthcoming season of The Bear. According to Chris Storer, the creator and main director of the series, Ayo Edebiri will direct a few episodes of season 3. This will be the actress’ first time directing, with Ayo being “an important set of fresh eyes”, as Storer told Esquire. Previously, the series had actor and comedian Ramy Youssef guest direct season 2 episode 4, “Honeydew.”

Although not confirmed by FX, The Bear apparently filmed the third and a fourth season back-to-back, according to numerous entertainment outlets. According to these reports, the decision to film both seasons came from Edebiri and White’s commitments to other projects, and a fifth season is currently in consideration.