The Empress season 4 isn't happening, but the creator teased a Bridgerton approach to potential spinoffs

After two long years of waiting, fans of the Netflix original German drama series The Empress have been treated to a brand-new season. Of course, season 3 also comes with the unfortunate downside that it's the final season of the series. It's a bummer to have waited for only six final episodes, but the show might still have a bright future ahead according to the showrunner.

Premiering on Nov. 12, The Empress season 3 finds Devrim Lingnau-Islamoğlu as Elisabeth "Sisi" von Wittelsbach, the title character whose life has been explored across the series. In the final season, Elisabeth contends with a life-changing decision between following her heart with a new love interest or continue to stand tell as the empress of her people in Austria.

Because The Empress season 3 was announced as the final season ahead of the season's premiere, the series was able to end on its own terms and tell a complete story without ending on a cliffhanger. But that doesn't mean fans won't want more. Katharina Eyssen, the creator and co-showrunner, already has thoughts about taking a play from Bridgerton's book by branching out with spinoffs.

The Empress season 4 won't happen, but a spinoff could

Sadly, we're not going to get The Empress season 4 on Netflix since Eyssen felt season 3 with the perfect natural ending for the story. But in a new interview with Deadline, the creator revealed that she's inspired by the possibility of creating spinoff series around certain characters in the show's universe, much like Bridgerton executive producer Shonda Rhimes with the fellow Netflix sensation.

"I’m impressed by what Shonda Rhimes is doing with Bridgerton, with one spinoff here and another there," Eyssen told Deadline. She's alluding to the successful prequel series Queen Charlotte, which aired in between seasons 2 and 3. Most recently, Netflix announced another prequel series centered around Young Violet. The Empress has the potential to take a similar approach.

Eyssen said, "Some of the [Empress] characters are finished, given where we leave them historically, but there could be possibilities to go back in time and tell an origin story, or a childhood or youth story. There is also material in the stories of Elisabeth’s children. I’m not pitching this, but there would be material for anyone who is interested. Perhaps we can all sleep on it and see how season 3 does."

Based on the creator's comments, she hasn't actively pitched any spinoff ideas to Netflix and there's nothing currently in active development. But she seems to have plenty of ideas at the ready should the streaming service look to further expand the world of The Empress and turn it into a franchise similar to Bridgerton. As Eyssen said, she's waiting to see how the third and final season performs.

Whether or not any spinoff series ever get put into development or come to fruition, Eyssen has already extended her relationship with Netflix as she's working on a new series. Earlier this year, it was announced that she and husband Robert Eyssen are teaming up for another historical drama at Netflix, this time the dark series Witches, which takes place during the European witch trials.

Eyssen revealed to Deadline that she's still in the writing process on the series set in Germany in the 1700s, but she hopes that Witches will end up on our watch lists within the next two years. For now, that seems to be Eyssen's focus rather than actively developing any spinoffs of The Empress. But at least we know that the possibility is there in the future to continue this epic tale.

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