The Witcher, Ratched and 8 popular Netflix shows probably not returning in 2022

Netflix has lots of great new and returning shows on deck for 2022, but there are also several popular Netflix shows fans are still eagerly waiting to return for additional seasons. From the elusive Ratched season 2 to the highly-anticipated Shadow and Bone follow-up, we’re looking at a few Netflix shows fans might have to wait a while longer to watch.

The Stranger Things drought is finally ending in just a few short months, but some series, like The Dragon Prince, have left fans in the lurch for years. It’s always unfortunate when fans end up waiting so long for new episodes, but sometimes it just happens due to any number of unforeseen circumstances or the creators simply wanting to ensure they’re delivering an excellent product! We can’t blame them for that.

Popular Netflix shows probably not returning in 2022

The good news about all of the shows on this list is that there are solid plans for them to continue. All of them are planned, and most of them are currently filming or in production; we just don’t expect them to finish and be ready to air by the end of 2022, although a couple of these Netflix shows could prove us wrong and arrive earlier than anticipated. So without further ado, let’s look at some popular Netflix shows that will (probably) not return this year.

Ratched season 2

• Season 1 premiere date: Sept. 18, 2020
• Estimated return: Unknown

I recently went into more detail regarding Ratched season 2 and my concerns about its filming schedule, but to reiterate: we have no idea when Ratched will return because, as far as we know, the filming on the second season has not even started yet. Hopefully, the writers have the scripts completed and ready to go so filming can begin within the coming months, but with no updates in almost two years, it is hard not to be concerned about the show’s future.

Ratched season 2 hasn’t even started filming yet

Moving forward, there might be scheduling conflicts for star Finn Wittrock, who is supposed to start production on the upcoming Green Lantern series soon. It would be great if we could get at least an estimate of when Ratched might go into production, but for the time being, we just don’t know anything for sure.

The Witcher season 3

• Season 2 premiere date: Dec. 17, 2021
• Estimated return: Q4 2023

As an epic dark fantasy series, The Witcher is one of Netflix’s largest productions and therefore takes a while to film and complete post-production. Filming on The Witcher season 3 is supposed to start very soon and will continue into the summer months. After that, post-production starts, and that takes longer on a fantasy series than it does for regular dramas, especially a show like The Witcher, which has tons of monsters and CGI.

The Witcher is one of the most popular Netflix shows, with a prequel on the way

The good news is that fans won’t be completely devoid of new Witcher content this year since the highly-anticipated prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin will be coming at some point in 2022. As for the third season, as long as there are no significant production delays like there were in season 2, the next season should be on track for a 2023 release.

Squid Game season 2

• Season 2 premiere date: Sept. 17, 2021
• Estimated return: 2024-2025

Without a doubt, Squid Game is one of the most popular Netflix shows in recent memory—of all time, actually, and fans are desperate for news on the show’s upcoming second season. The acclaimed and award-winning show took over the world in fall 2021 and became everyone’s newest obsession.

In January 2022, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the Squid Game universe had “just begun,” so it’s a matter of when we’ll get more content rather than if. But, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk recently gave a rather disappointing update regarding the show’s future. He hasn’t even started writing the second season yet!

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk hasn’t started writing Squid Game season 2 yet

Per Deadline, Hwang said: “There will be more great games, that’s all I can say. I’m just still brainstorming and collecting the ideas for Season 2. I haven’t even started with the writing yet.”

Given that update and the fact that we don’t have any concrete news regarding what will happen next for Squid Game, we probably won’t see another season until 2024 or 2025.

Outer Banks season 3

• Season 2 premiere date: Jul. 30, 2021
• Estimated return: Q2 2023

Fans have been lucky with the Outer Banks as the first season premiered in April 2020, and another season arrived only a little over a year later in July 2021. But there will probably be a longer wait between seasons 2 and 3 due to production delays. Luckily, Outer Banks season 3 has officially started filming as of early March and is expected to continue filming through August.

After that, post-production should only take a few months before the show is ready to air, which would could make it a winter release. But it seems more likely that Netflix would want to keep this warm, summer-y show until spring or summer 2023. The first two seasons came out during the warmer months, so I could see Netflix holding Outer Banks season 3 until at least March or April next year.

Sex Education season 4

• Season 3 premiere date: Sept. 17, 2021
• Estimated return: Q2 2023

While fans have been lucky enough to get at least one new season of Sex Education per year since 2019, it looks like the fourth season will be delayed until 2023. As one of the most popular Netflix shows, that is bound to be disappointing news to fans, but Netflix insiders reportedly believe the show will start filming Sex Education season 4 in April through November 2022.

Development will probably not be completed until early 2023, and then we can expect a spring or summer release date. One of the reasons for the delay in filming is believed to be because the creators are looking to make more diverse casting hires for the new season.

Shadow and Bone season 2

• Season 1 premiere date: Apr. 23, 2021
• Estimated return: Q1 2023

Shadow and Bone season 2 started filming in January 2022 and, based on the season 1 schedule, will probably continue filming through late April or May. Additional filming might also happen over the summer if necessary, as was the case during the first season. Post-production on the first season took a long time, with the show wrapping in June 2020 but not airing until April 2021. Fantasy series typically take much longer in post.

Shadow and Bone season 2 might be one of the listed Netflix shows to release earlier than expected

Even if Shadow and Bone is done filming by May or June at the latest, development probably will not be complete until late fall or early winter. It’s possible that Netflix could release the series in November or December, but it seems unlikely. We’ll probably be waiting until at least 2023 for the next season.

Sweet Tooth season 2

• Season 1 premiere date: June 4, 2021
• Estimated return: Q1 2023

Sweet Tooth is another one of these Netflix shows that might premiere at the end of 2022, perhaps in November or December, but it seems unlikely. The second season is currently filming and should wrap in May. As you know by now, post-production on fantasy shows like this one take considerable time to complete. Sweet Tooth season 1 wrapped in December 2020 and then premiered on Netflix about six months later in June 2021.

That said, it’s hard to compare season 2 to season 1 because the first season was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They might have been able to work on post during the brief hiatus. All this to say that Sweet Tooth could be scheduled for Q4 2022, but we’re guessing it is more likely to premiere in Q1 2023.

The Dragon Prince season 4

• Season 3 premiere date: Nov. 22, 2019
• Estimated return: Q2 2023

While The Dragon Prince fans have been lucky enough to receive a rare four-season renewal that will see the completion of the saga through from beginning to end (each season scheduled for nine episodes each), the trade-off has been having to wait over three years for new episodes.

The Dragon Prince has been renewed for four additional seasons

The creators were kind enough to provide fans with an “end of year update” in 2021, where they revealed that they are hard at work on the upcoming seasons of the show. They said that production on season 4 would wrap sometime in late 2022, “at the earliest,” meaning the odds are very slim that we’ll see the fourth season this year.