Joe Locke and Kit Connor return as everyone’s favourite teen couple in Season 3 of Heartstopper. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Netflix series!
UPDATE: Season 3 of Heartstopper is out now! Read our review of Heartstopper Season 3 and our list of 5 coming-of-age films to Watch if you liked Heartstopper!
Heartstopper exploded onto the scene with its first season in 2022 on Netflix, portraying a sweet story of young love between two teenage boys: shy introvert Charlie (Joe Locke, Agatha All Along) and popular rugby boy Nick (Kit Connor, Rocketman). It was so praised by audiences and critics alike for the delicate, funny and sweet portrayal of teenagers navigating school, relationships and identity.
The series is based on the graphic novels of Alice Oseman, which she started as a webcomic on Tumblr. Oseman is the writer, creator and executive producer for the Netflix adaptation and has been involved at every stage from casting to music. It was announced this week that Heartstopper Season 3 will be released in full on Netflix later this year – here’s everything we know about the new series so far!
Everything we know about the plot of Heartstopper Season 3
Alongside the announcement of the release date for the new series, Netflix released a trailer showing Charlie debating when to tell Nick that he loves him. The trailer also includes an exclusive snippet of Billie Eilish’s new song ‘Birds of a Feather’ which will be in her new album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’.
The new series will be about the deepening of Charlie and Nick’s relationship, as they face their biggest emotional challenges yet. Charlie wants to tell Nick that he loves him, and Nick also has something important to say to Charlie. The summer holidays end and school starts for another year, the Heartstopper teens begin to realise that the school year will come with simultaneous joys and difficulties. As they learn more about each other and their relationships, enjoy parties and start thinking about university, everyone must learn to lean on those they love when life doesn’t go to plan.
Heartstopper grew up emotionally in many ways from season 1 to season 2, as the characters begin to transition into their late teens and face more adult concepts. Season 2 began to explore Charlie’s mental health issues, and tenderly portrayed Nick gradually discovering the extent of these issues. Oseman told Netflix that these themes will continue to drive the story in season 3: “While Heartstopper will always celebrate the joyful and point towards hope, I’m really excited that we are allowing the tone of the show to mature alongside our beloved characters growing up. Mental health, sex, university ambitions and more: Nick, Charlie and the Heartstopper teens are getting older, learning more about themselves and each other, and experiencing new desires, new fears, and new joys as they approach adulthood.”
When will Heartstopper Season 3 be released?
Heartstopper season 3 will be released on Netflix in full on October 3, 2024.
Will There Be Any New Characters?
There have been multiple announcements about new characters in this series, with some exciting big names joining the cast! Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger) will play Diane, Nick’s aunt who takes him on a summer holiday to Menorca and imparts some tough advice about his relationship with Charlie. Eddie Marsan (Back to Black) will play Geoff, Charlie’s straight-talking therapist. Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers‘ Jonathan Bailey will also make a cameo appearance as Charlie’s celebrity crush, Jack Maddox, an instagram-famous classicist.
Charlie’s older sister Tori (Jenny Walser, Call The Midwife) will be getting a love interest in this series as another character from the graphic novel is welcomed in Season 3: Michael Holden. He’ll be played by relative newcomer Darragh Hand, and this character was actually a protagonist in Oseman’s debut novel Solitaire, in which Tori is the protagonist. Michael has been described by Oseman as a “quirky, eccentric optimist with a sunshine disposition” in an Instagram post.
Is anyone not returning for Season 3?
Despite the introduction of these intriguing new characters to enrich the cast, a few key players from Season 1 and Season 2 will not be returning. Olivia Colman will not be returning as Nick’s loving and supportive mother in Season 3. Colman told Forbes “I couldn’t do number three. I couldn’t fit it in. I feel awful about that. I feel like I was part of one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been part of.” Colman and Connor shared one of the most poignant scenes in the first series, when Nick comes out to his mother as bisexual; her small role was incredibly impactful.
The character of Ben (Sebastian Croft, FILM) , whom Charlie experienced a toxic relationship with in Series 1, will not be returning for Season 3. In the first series, Ben and Charlie had a secret relationship due to Ben’s personal shame, publicly bullying Charlie so as not to be outed. In Season 2, Charlie begins to unpack the trauma he carries with him due to Ben and the bullying he has faced in the past due to his sexuality. In a Tudum article, Oseman explained that he felt that “Ben’s presence was necessary to properly address these topics”, however Ben’s role is now “complete”.
Croft expressed to Netflix that he wanted Ben to get his “Heartstopper moment”, that he was not privy to due to his actions, but he felt that lots of people would connect to the feeling of being nervous to become a part of the community and where you fit in.
While audiences (and Charlie and Nick) are sure to be happy to see Ben leave the series for good, in the Tudum article Oseman expressed that she will miss her friend who took on probably the toughest role in the series and carried it out with determination and intelligence. Oseman said of Croft: “I know that he’ll go on to do incredible things, and I will be cheering from the sidelines all the way.”
Heartstopper Seasons 1, 2 and 3 are now available to watch on Netflix.
