Yellowjackets Season 4’s Official Filming Timeline & Why Season 5 Shouldn’t Happen Revealed By Shauna Actor

by

The surviving characters in Yellowjackets now know when they’ll begin filming season 4, and it involves returning to the remote wilderness location.

After the dramatic season 3 finale of Yellowjackets in April 2025, Showtime announced the show would return for a fourth and final season. While creator Ashley Lyle had previously said they envisioned five seasons, she and co-creator Bart Nickerson explained that season 4 felt like the natural ending point for the story.

While a specific release date for Yellowjackets season 4 hasn’t been announced, the cast is preparing to film the last episodes. Sophie Nélisse, who plays teenage Shauna, recently told ScreenRant that filming will begin in mid-February.

Liam Crowley: Sophie, I don’t really have a smooth transition into this next question, but everyone at ScreenRant is a huge fan of Yellowjackets. Christina mentioned they were planning to start filming the final season in January, and we’re almost out of time for that to happen.

We begin filming in two weeks, and everyone is really excited! I’ve already arranged my housing in Vancouver as we prepare to start the last season.

As a huge Yellowjackets fan, I was keeping track of when season 4 would start filming, and earlier reports said January. But Sophie Nélisse just confirmed it’s actually mid-February when they begin shooting in Vancouver. That’s a little later than previous seasons, but honestly, it makes sense. The last season ended with everything covered in snow, so waiting a bit for the colder weather to really kick in probably helps with continuity!

The first season premiered in May 2021, followed by season two in August 2022, and season three in May 2024. Each of these seasons took roughly five to six months to film for both the 1990s and 2020s storylines. However, the filming duration for season four is still unknown.

Looking at how long it took to make previous seasons, we can get an idea of when Yellowjackets season 4 might appear on Paramount+. Season 2 came out in March 2023, seven months after filming began, and season 3 premiered in February 2025, nine months after production started. Based on this pattern, season 4 could potentially arrive as early as fall 2026.

One remaining question about Yellowjackets season 4 is how many episodes it will have. While season 2 only had nine episodes (plus an unaired bonus episode that was never released), seasons 1 and 3 each had ten. Season 4 is currently expected to also have ten episodes.

Yellowjackets Season # Production Start Month Episode Count Premiere Date
1 May 2021 10 November 14, 2021
2 August 2022 9 March 26, 2023
3 May 2024 10 February 16, 2025
4 February 2026 TBD TBD

Before starting work on Shauna Shipman again next month, Nélisse spoke with ScreenRant about how she feels about Yellowjackets ending. She believes season 4 is the perfect time to conclude the series, and hinted that the creators are planning a truly spectacular finale.

Liam Crowley asked if, even though the project hadn’t officially begun, there were mixed feelings about it ending soon.

Absolutely. These women have really defined my twenties. I’ve become the person I am today thanks to them – what I’ve learned from them and how I’ve grown with them. It’s going to be hard not having them in my life, but I also love this show because of how well-made it is. I think it’s best to end it now, while it still holds onto what makes it special and why people enjoy it so much. We’re aiming to give the series a fantastic final season.

Nélisse recently shared that she thinks the show should end before it loses its core identity, echoing the feelings of the show’s creators when they announced there wouldn’t be a fifth season. Lyle and Nickerson explained they’ve always planned to end the story when it felt natural, and they believe it’s their duty to respect the story’s direction.

With the final scene of Yellowjackets season 3 showing young Nat seemingly connecting with a rescue team, the fourth season was expected to wrap up the story set in the wilderness. At the same time, the show’s adult characters are heading towards a final confrontation as Shauna fully embraces her darker side – the Antler Queen – and that storyline also seems to be reaching its end.

Season 4 of Yellowjackets is bringing back most of the original cast, including Jasmin Savoy Brown and Tawny Cypress as Tai, Samantha Hanratty and Christina Ricci as Misty, Sophie Thatcher as Nat, Courtney Eaton as Lottie, Liv Hewson as Van, Kevin Alves as Travis, Nia Sondaya as Akilah, Hilary Swank and Jenna Burgess as Melissa, Warren Kole as Jeff, Sarah Desjardins as Callie, Ashley Sutton as Hannah, and Elijah Wood as Walter, alongside Nélisse and Melanie Lynskey who both play Shauna.

Read More

2026-01-28 00:00