Everything we know so far about Alice in Borderland season 3 (including potential release window)

Alice in Borderland was a smash hit when it premiered on Netflix in December 2020. Critics and viewers enjoyed the science fiction series and were over the moon to discover that it had been renewed for a second season. But unfortunately, fans had to go through a painfully long wait to see the highly anticipated second season. However, I think it’s safe to say that Alice in Borderland season 2 was well worth the wait. Now, everyone’s wondering if the story will continue in an Alice in Borderland season 3.

While the season 2 finale may have seemed like a series finale, so much more could be explored in a third season. Well, the good news is that an Alice in Borderland season 3 is officially happening at Netflix.

We shared everything we know so far about the upcoming third season below!

Alice in Borderland season 3 latest news

Here’s the latest on the third season:

• Production on the third season is believed to have taken place from late September 2023 to February 2024. More on this below.
• On Sept. 27, Netflix announced that Alice in Borderland was renewed for a third season.
• As of Sept. 19, it looks like Netflix might’ve silently renewed the sci-fi series for a third season.

How many seasons of Alice in Borderland are there?

There are only two seasons of the sci-fi series, and both are currently available to stream on Netflix. Each season has eight episodes in total, which is the typical number of episodes a Netflix show is given. A third season is in the works.

Alice in Borderland season 3 officially ordered by Netflix

It looks like we were right, Netflix Lifers! The popular sci-fi series is due to return with its third season soon because it has been officially renewed. We recently reported about a rumor going around that the show had been silently renewed. Well, a little over a week after our report, and Netflix has confirmed this rumor. Alice in Borderland season 3 is officially a go at Netflix!

The streaming giant announced the good news on Sept. 27 through their official X/Twitter account in a 21-second teaser showing the Joker playing card.

Here’s what we previously reported below. 

But what are the chances of Alice in Borderland season 3 happening? Well, initially it seemed unlikely that Netflix would renew the show for another season, primarily because the second season wraps up the storyline and ends around the same point that its source material, the manga, ends. The two seasons released right now tell a complete story.

However, there’s a rumor going around that Alice in Borderland might’ve been silently renewed for a third season by Netflix. Apparently, there have been mysterious posters found on a subway in Japan with the Netflix logo on them and 10 playing cards in two rows of five.

Obviously, playing cards play a huge part in the sci-fi series. Many people believe it’s a code and have even cracked it. As reported by What’s on Netflix, a fan of the series figured out what the poster means and it’s believed to spell out “ALICE THREE.” Could this mean Alice in Borderland season 3 is a go at Netflix? It’s unclear, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that this is the case. We’ll just have to wait for confirmation from Netflix.

That said, the second season fared well on the streamer. It managed to rank highly on Netflix’s global Top 10 list for non-English TV in its first four weeks on the platform. In fact, Alice in Borderland season 2 was watched for 200,550,000 million hours globally in its first month on Netflix.

Viewing hours are very important. Netflix typically looks at how many people watch a show in its first month to help decide whether to renew or cancel. Since Alice in Borderland season 2 pulled in tons of viewers, it’s possible they could use that to justify a new season. Even though it doesn’t seem likely, there are some ways that the show could continue.

Production on season 3 is believed to have wrapped in February 2024

In September 2023, a casting call went out looking for extras for Alice in Borderland season 3. Included in the casting call was a tentative production schedule. According to the casting notice, filming was to take place from late September 2023 to February 2024. Production was well underway in December 2023 with Alice in Borderland producer Akira Morii sharing pictures from the season 3 set via Instagram. He even captioned the post, "Another day of shooting!"

In January 2024, Morii shared another picture on his Instagram from the set of season 3, letting fans know that filming was still going on. Then, in February 2024, there was more proof that production was still ongoing when Tao Tsuchiya, who plays Usagi in the series, posted a picture on Instagram from the set of the third season. Based on the post, it looks like the cast and crew bought her cake to celebrate her 29th birthday.

Does the third season have a release date?

Unfortunately, there isn't a release date for the third season yet. However, it looks like the new episodes are currently being edited in post-production. That's if the cameras really did stop rolling in February.

Production on season 2 wrapped in March 2022 and the season was released later on Netflix in December of that year. If the third season were to follow the same release pattern, that means we could be seeing Alice in Borderland season 3 in November 2024. However, the release may be held until December 2024 since previous seasons were released in that month. No worries! We'll get back to you with the official release date once Netflix announces it.

Alice in Borderland season 2 ending explained

The second season ends with all the face cards being defeated and the surviving players being given the option to stay in the game or return to the real world. Arisu and the other players who chose to return to the real world wake up in a hospital and find out that a meteor hit Tokyo. This is what we saw happen at the beginning of the show with the fireworks, but now we know that the fireworks were actually pieces of the meteor destroying Tokyo.

When the meteor hit Tokyo, many people died, while those who were critically injured were sent to the hospital. All the people who participated in the games, such as Arisu and Usagi, had survived the blast but were at the border between life and death aka the Borderlands. When they return from the Borderlands, they have no recollection of ever being there or knowing each other. Arisu and Usagi meet at the hospital and have a strange feeling that they’ve met before but have no proof of their meeting actually happening. Still, they decide to get to know one another.

The last shot of the season shows a table full of playing cards flying away until only the Joker card remains. The camera zooms in on the Joker card’s face while suspenseful music plays in the background. Then it cuts to the credits.

What could Alice in Borderland season 3 be about?

Based on how the second season ended, the third season could center around the Joker being the new villain. Maybe the Joker is actually the mastermind behind the games, and Arisu and the rest of the surviving players are still stuck in the Borderlands.

The third season could also be adapted from one of the manga creator’s Borderland spinoffs: Alice on Border Road or Alice in Borderland Retry. However, Alice on Border Road has no connection to Alice in Borderland other than having a similar premise, while Alice in Borderland Retry is a sequel to Alice in Borderland. So, it would make sense if the creators adapted Alice in Borderland Retry for the third season.

Here’s what Alice in Borderland Retry is about via Fandom:

"Retry begins with the returning protagonist Ryohei Arisu, who once again finds himself trapped in the Borderland and must therefore participate in a deadly game with other players via tactics, cooperation, and betrayal in order to survive and depart the Borderland to reunite with his wife and expecting baby."

Cast

We do not have a full cast list for Alice in Borderland season 3 just yet. However, Netflix did reveal that Kento Yamazaki and Tao Tsuchiya would be reprising their roles as Arisu and Usagi in the third season. Shinsuke Sato also comes back to direct the new episodes.

Since the first two seasons consisted of eight episodes each, the third season will probably have the same amount of episodes. Maybe Netflix will bump up the episode count to 10 episodes, but eight seems more likely. In addition, the third season will likely be rated TV-MA since the first two seasons were rated that way. It’s not often that a Netflix show’s age rating changes.

We’ll constantly update this space with new information about Alice in Borderland season 3 as it’s released, so stay tuned to Netflix Life!

The FanSided Entertainment Team has contributed to this article.