Takeshi's Revenge

Everything we know about Altered Carbon Season 3, from cast to release date

Netflix needs to bring back this cyberpunk saga ASAP.

Altered Carbon Season 2 was a huge shift for the Netflix series, with a new star and a lot more action. So what does that mean for Altered Carbon Season 3? Is the Netflix series confirmed for another season? When is the release date? When will we get a trailer? Will the cast change? Could Altered Carbon Season 3 bring back Joel Kinnaman?

Here's everything we know about Altered Carbon Season 3, along with some advice for how to fill the Takeshi-sized hole in your heart while you wait.

Is there an Altered Carbon Season 3 release date?

Quell (center) in 'Altered Carbon' Season 2Netflix

There's been no official announcement from Netflix about Altered Carbon Season 3, but we're expecting a big thumbs-up from the streaming titan after the positive response to Season 2. Netflix first declared its Season 2 renewal in July 2018, five months after its premiere in February of 2018. Don't be surprised if there's a similar wait this time around.

Altered Carbon films in Vancouver, British Columbia and surrounding exterior locations, so with an average filming time of 6-8 months, and the previous two-year gap between seasons, we'd expect to see Altered Carbon Season 3 in early 2022. Much depends on actors' availability and scheduling so we'll keep you posted once we hear solid intel.

Any chance that production could be sped up this for Season 3 has likely been scuttled as the coronavirus pandemic delays movies and TV shows across the industry.

When will the Altered Carbon Season 3 trailer release?

Anthony Mackie as Takeshi KovacsNetflix

The short answer is one year from now. Going by the official marketing plan for Altered Carbon Season 2, fans were given a quick casting glimpse and production tease in February of 2019, 12 months after the unspooling of Season 1.

So we're sticking to early 2021 as to when we'd be uploading data on the next season, but miracles do happen and it could be earlier. With a show as ambitious as Altered Carbon, it takes time to properly craft. Patience will be rewarded!

Will Altered Carbon Season 3 reboot the show again?

Poe (Chris Conner)Netflix

Showrunner Alison Schapker has gone on record stating there are plans for a multi-season arc for the series and recalled that Season 2 had already been mapped out by creator Laeta Kalogridis when she was hired as co-showrunner in July 2018. By introducing a new iteration of Kovacs each season, the goal would be to follow the natural path of an anthology-type show, with each outing taking place on a different planet in the Settled Worlds. These would likely follow a defined continuity with a new detective story and new sleeve along that journey.

With Season 2 taking elements from British author Richard K. Morgan's second and third books in the Altered Carbon trilogy — Broken Furies and Woken Angels — the series is free to explore any number of Kovacs' exploits from the past, present, or future.

Who’s in the Altered Carbon Season 3 cast? Who died in Season 2?

Joel Kinnaman in 'Altered Carbon' Season 1

As was the case with Joel Kinnaman's exit after the first season, Anthony Mackie will probably not return if the showrunners and writers follow the same pattern of resleeving each season. Mackie did an exceptional job bringing fury and intensity to the role, but he'll likely not reprise his gig in Altered Carbon Season 3 except for potential flashbacks.

Ivan Carrera and Danica Harlan are gone. However, Will Yun Lee as Kovacs' birth sleeve should be back in some incarnation, as would Chris Conner as Edgar Allan Poe, Renée Elise Goldsberry as Quellcrist Falconer, Simone Missick as bounty hunter Trepp, and Dina Shihabi as Dig 301.

Who could play Takeshi Kovacs in Altered Carbon Season 3?


No casting choices have been offered or hinted at right now. Who would you love to see in the role? Would you be game for another torch song-singing gender swap?

How many episodes will Altered Carbon Season 3 contain?


Ten episodes for Altered Carbon Season 1 felt right, considering all the worldbuilding and narrative-heavy lifting the show had to do. Season 2 contained eight chapters and the pacing seemed more organic with little padding. We'd like to see Netflix continue the eight-episode structure, especially if it means we'll get a new season even sooner!

Here are five plot lines Altered Carbon Season 3 must explore


5. Poe Digs Miss Dig

Charming Archaeologue A.I. Dig 301 (Dina Shihabi) was a refreshing companion for Poe (Chris Conner) as he struggled with his deteriorating glitchiness in the aftermath of being reduced to nano-dust in Season 1. Miss Dig was one of the unemployed digital archaeologists tasked with investigating Elder artifacts discovered on Harlan's World when the first colony ships arrived centuries ago. Shihabi brought an innocence and empathy to the Altered Carbon realm and we'd love to see her continued interactions with Poe as he recovers from his hard reboot. Plus, you have to admit… they do make a delightful digital couple!

Conner continues to impress with his touching performance playing the evolving AI and sidekick to Kovacs as they galavant across the universe together. Showing his amazing range, Season 2 allowed Conner to stretch his acting legs and imbue the artificial intelligence with added depth as he struggles with the very real human affliction of memory loss and dementia.

4. Will Ryker ever resurface?

Admit it, as much as we love a jacked Mackie as Kovacs, actor Joel Kinnaman brought a different brand of bravado to The Last Envoy that we retain a nostalgic longing for. Though it's been thirty years since Kovacs left the sleeve and disgraced cop Elias Ryker was pardoned for the crimes he was framed for, we miss Kinnaman's brooding presence and silent stoicism.

We learned in Season 2 that Kovacs paid to have Ortega's family resurrected in new sleeves, so we'd love to revisit Ortega and a reformed Ryker to see if they lived happily ever after, picking out bedroom furniture from some 24th century IKEA for their love nest. Maybe they had a child together and he/she is now a Protectorate official or needlecasting cop. OR a cloned Ryker sleeve (using Bancroft's billions) could team up with a new Kovacs to form the most formidable duo in the galaxy. Don't scoff, it could happen!

3. On the road with Kovacs and Poe?

In Season 2 Episode 2, Kovacs mentioned that during the past three decades since he left Ryker's sleeve, he’d visited 42 planets and inhabited countless sleeves on myriad missions with Poe. Any one of these adventures could serve as a compelling solo episode while adding to the series' overall mythology. Another consideration would be to use the entire Season 3 as a sort of prequel offering spanning those thirty years featuring different guest Kovacs for each world.

2. More Elder exploration

When Quell controlled one of the weaponized Elder satellites to call down Angelfire, it revealed an empathic connection between the Elder civilization and the Songspire trees’ ability to record consciousness. Season 2 provided much more about Elder tech, the offspring roost, and their genocide in the alloy mine shaft at the hands of Konrad Harlan to secure his planetary charter.

Archaeologues learned that the militant Elders were at war with another race, but that foe’s identity was a mystery. As further Elder artifacts are activated, we’ll no doubt learn more about this aggressive avian species as looming secrets manifest down the road in Season 3.

And yes, we did finally get to see one of the demonic winged creatures before it invaded Jaeger/Colonel Carrera’s stack to enact its explosive revenge using the array of orbital platforms. It wasn’t pretty to say the least.

1. Better get the good whiskey ready!

Yep, it seems the raw human DHF Poe stored before his hard reboot is identified as our legendary Envoy by the newly named Annabel Lee, AKA Miss Dig, so Kovacs Prime will be back in action in a new sleeve in two years, inhabiting the same universe as his younger self.

What can I do to scratch my Altered Carbon itch until 2022?

Dynamite Entertainment released an original graphic novel last year written by Richard K. Morgan titled Altered Carbon: Download Blues. Morgan revisits his cyberpunk roots in this standalone story set within the Altered Carbon universe and its cast of complex characters. This 128-page hardbound book is co-written by Rik Hoskin (White Sand, Red Rising) and contains artwork by Ferran Sellares (Grimm Fairy Tales). It's the perfect way to go beyond the novels and the TV series to get another dose of Kovacs and Co. in their far-future world until 2022 arrives.

In an interview with Inverse, Morgan teased the new Altered Carbon graphic novel, hinting that it could take the story in yet another new direction with a new genre and setting:

“You’re going to see Kovacs in a number of different sleeves, and this time around, things are a bit more fraught and there’s a prison context to some of the narrative. I understand there’s a lot more body shock tied to this installment than the last one, which stuck to noirish crime and stories of corruption.”
Dynamite Entertainment

Finally, be sure to check out this video of Richard Morgan reading a passage from his Altered Carbon sequel, Broken Angles for Inverse Happy Hour:

Altered Carbon Season 1 and 2 are available now on Netflix.