Will there be a Manifest spinoff or sequel series on Netflix? (Manifesters hope so!)

Manifest season 4 part 2 premiered on Netflix on Friday, June 2, 2023, and many fans have questions about the ending and if it’s truly the end for this story, these characters, and the cast and crew.

At the time of publishing, it appears this is the end of the story, but that can change at any time. Netflix seemed eager to pick up the series after it had been canceled on NBC. The key metric will always be viewership. If enough fans watch, there’s always the possibility of more.

Manifest season 5 is not happening

So far, Netflix has not announced plans for another season. We’ve only heard that this was the end of the story. So, no, a Manifest season 5 or spinoff is not officially in the works as of June 2023.

Many fans want a Manifest spinoff

All you have to do is take a spin on social media to see that fans are advocating for a Manifest spinoff after binge-watching the series over the weekend. The #ManifestSpinoff started popping up a little more often on Friday as fans finished the series.

Just how many fans would watch a spinoff seems up in the air at this point, but it’s the No. 1 show on Netflix in the US and likely many countries and regions around the world. It seems likely that Netflix would at the very least entertain the idea of a potential prequel, sequel, or spinoff.

Manifest cast seems to want a Manifest spinoff, too

Several Manifest cast members have mentioned continuing the story in some capacity. J.R. Ramirez told Distractify that there is potential for a spinoff. Josh Dallas mentioned it in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s what Dallas told THR:

"I think there’s major sequel or spinoff potential here. Maybe we go into the future and see Eden at 21 or so as she’s navigating the world, or we follow the younger passengers. Maybe we go back to 2013 and deep dive into the investigation with Vance."

The major players in all of this who we haven’t heard from yet are anyone at Netflix to share how popular the show is and if there are plans for more in the works. And, obviously, Manifest creator Jeff Rake has been pretty much absent from the press tour because of the WGA strike.

Rake did share some thoughts with Distractify about a possible spinoff:

"“When when you’re lucky enough to have fallen into a relationship with your characters and with your fans, you know, it can’t help but lead a greedy showrunner to think about, you know, ‘would there be more story to tell about these characters?’ And so I certainly spent a lot of time dreaming up potential stories for the beyond [Episode 420]. So you never know.”"

What could a Manifest spinoff be about?

There are many directions the show could go based on the ending of Manifest. As Dallas pointed out, there’s always the possibility to time jump and see how the characters are doing. Maybe, their lives turned out so much differently than they would have had the events of those four seasons not happened to them.

When you bring the spiritual elements like the show did in the finale and where things ended, there’s always a possibility that things could go wrong in that realm.

I think Dallas’s idea about the investigation into the 11 missing passengers with NSA Director Vance (Daryl Edwards) is probably the only idea that I’ve heard so far with real potential to be a multi-season hit for Netflix. That would shift the focus away from some of the main characters, but it would also open up the series into how this all happened and where Vance’s investigation could lead.

Is a Manifest spinoff actually going to happen?

I’m venturing into the realm of uncertainty and speculation here, so please feel free to disagree. I really don’t think a Manifest spinoff will happen on Netflix. There is potential to revisit what happened, but when you have a series finale like this one, I think it’s best to just close that door and let the story stand on its own.

Netflix has done a few spinoffs so far, and there are a few in the works, but only a few have been very successful. The latest campaign for a Manifest spinoff feels driven more by a love for the characters rather than a need to continue the story.

Unless the series is a smash hit and it would be a huge miss for Netflix to NOT continue the series. I mean, we’re talking territory few shows have ever gone before, but it would have to be at the level of Squid Game, Stranger Things, Wednesday, and Bridgerton for Netflix to continue with a Manifest spinoff.

With the writers’ strike continuing, we likely won’t hear much about a Manifest spinoff for a while. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.