Snowpiercer season 4: Release date, cast and plot details
The train is finally leaving the station for its fourth season after some delays – in the US, at least. **CONTAINS SEASON 3 SPOILERS**
It's safe to say that it's been a rocky road for Snowpiercer's fourth season. Originally announced as far back as July 2021 and confirmed as the final run a year later, it was suddenly left without a home when it was dropped by initial broadcaster TNT at the start of 2023.
That means fans have now been waiting more than two years since the last episode aired – but thankfully for US viewers the delayed train is finally set to leave the station, with the final season set to air imminently on its new home of AMC.
A trailer for the new season was released back in June, teasing the "closing act" and hinting at some of the action to come including returning stars Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs and Sean Bean as well as teasing the addition of Clark Gregg (Agents of SHIELD) as a villainous new character.
The show – which is adapted from Bong Joon-ho's terrific 2013 film of the same name – originally began airing in 2020 and built up a strong following in the subsequent two years, with those fans now hoping the series can get the final chapter right.
Read on for everything we know so far about Snowpiercer season 4, including its return date and possible plot theories – be warned, there are full season 3 spoilers ahead.
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Snowpiercer season 4 release date
The final season will begin its run with its season premiere on Sunday 21st July 2024, with the remaining episodes being released in weekly instalments thereafter.
Now, while that's great news for US fans of the series, the situation is a little more complex for viewers on this side of the Atlantic – where an official release date has not been revealed. In past seasons, Netflix had the international distribution to the show, with episodes arriving weekly on the streamer in the UK very shortly after their US debuts.
With no indication that will be the case again this time around, a UK release date still remains somewhat up in the air. When things become more clear, we'll update this page accordingly with the latest news.
Snowpiercer season 4 cast
The cast for the series – which was already fairly large at the outset – has been steadily growing since the first run, with a number of big names including Sean Bean and Archie Panjabi having joined in later seasons.
And while we've seen a couple of high-profile deaths in that time, there are still a few faces we can rely on returning for the final outing – with the likes of Daveed Diggs, Jennifer Connelly, Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Iddo Goldberg, Lena Hall, Sam Otto, Sheila Vand, Rowan Blanchard, Mike O'Malley, Roberto Urbina, and Jaylin Fletcher all likely to be back.
The same cannot be said for Annalise Basso, however, after her character LJ Folger was dramatically killed off in the season 3 finale, while Panjabi's Asha also met her end after sacrificing herself earlier in the run.
The future of Sean Bean on the show had been rather more cloudy after his character Mr Wilford was banished from Snowpiercer – which is admittedly a step up from being killed off, as has often been the case for the actor. But it's now been confirmed that he is returning for the final run.
Meanwhile, two actors who will also be playing a part in season 4 are Agents of SHIELD star Clark Gregg and The Americans' Michael Aronov – who are joining the cast as new characters.
Snowpiercer season 4 plot speculation
We've seen a lot of twists and turns in the show's run so far – and the new season will hopefully continue in that vein while providing a satisfying conclusion to the series as a whole.
The end of season 3 saw the train's passengers split into two distinct groups: those who wished to remain with Melanie and those who fancied a chance at a new start with Layton in New Eden, a warm spot off the train where human survival is possible. This season will now deal with the fallout of that split, which seems destined to lead to lots of drama.
But there was also one other major reveal at the end of the season – when, three months later, Melanie spotted a missile launch from an unknown location. The next run will also explore the origins of that missile, possibly putting the passengers in contact with more survivors.
The official synopsis is relatively vague but reads: "Months after Snowpiercer and Big Alice parted ways, Till and Ben encounter unforeseen enemies when Melanie sends them off train on a reconnaissance mission. Meanwhile, the residents of New Eden face uncertain times and unknown adversaries."
Snowpiercer season 4 trailer
You can get a better look at what to expect in the final season by watching the below trailer:
Snowpiercer season 4 will begin in the US on Sunday 21st July 2024 – with a UK release date still unconfirmed.
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
