Fans have been clamoring for more of The White Lotus ever since the widely-praised second season wrapped almost a year ago.
The White Lotus fanatics were dealt a blow last week when HBO indicated that the third season would not be on the air until 2025.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, series creator Mike White is opening up about what fans can expect, and there are some surprises.
“It’s going to be a supersized ‘White Lotus,'” White dished.
“It’s going to be longer, bigger, crazier. I don’t know what people will think, but I am super excited, so at least for my own barometer, that’s a good thing … I’m super excited about the content of the season.”
It’s hard to tell how much longer The White Lotus Season 3 will be, but with more episodes, there’s a good chance we’ll be meeting more characters than before.
The only confirmed cast member for the next chapter is Natasha Rothwell as Belinda, reprising her role from The White Lotus Season 1.
Belinda was a friend of Jennifer Coolidge’s Tanya.
With Tanya dying on The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 7, it’s hard to imagine them staging a reunion, but there is a chance that Belinda could be working out of a new resort and crossing paths with Tanya’s nefarious husband, Greg (Jon Gries).
The reason more casting details have not been revealed is that actors are currently on strike.
White is also finishing up the scripts for the season ahead.
“Still waiting to be able to cast. If the SAG strike isn’t resolved soon, then yeah, we’d have to push again because the show has a new cast every season, so there’s lots of parts to cast … I’m more than eager to get going,” he told EW.
According to reports, the location for the next chapter is Thailand, but there is a possibility that it could have changed since being pitched.
There were rumors that Connie Britton would be staging a comeback as Nicole Mossbacher.
Related: The White Lotus Season 3: Which Characters Should Return?
It sounds like many aspects of The White Lotus Season 3 are up in the air until a window for production can be determined.
Expanding the series is interesting because the series has benefited from telling stories across a small batch of episodes.
White has delivered a top-tier series for two seasons, so hopefully, the shift to a bigger episode count won’t affect the show’s quality.
White previously teased where the show would go next on an inside-the-episode special for The White Lotus Season 2 Episode 7.
“The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex,” he shared last year.
Related: The White Lotus Season 3: Everything We Know
“I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality.
“It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”
There are many directions the series could travel next, but we expect it to take a hard left turn because that’s what the show does every time we think we know where it’s going.
If the show does forge ahead without Coolidge, it will be interesting to see who provides the laughs because Tanya is such a big part of that universe.
It makes us wonder whether the series would even work without her.
What are your thoughts on these first snippets of the next season?
Are you interested in what’s about to go down?
Hit the comments.
Both seasons of The White Lotus are now streaming on HBO and Max.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.