Succession Creator Jesse Armstrong Has Teased Season 5 Plans Before

Succession, the saga of the morally, emotionally and psychologically fucked-up Roy family, came to an end last year after four years of must-watch drama. The show, which began as a fictionalized take on the Murdoch family through the lens of Shakespeare’s King Lear, delivered four years of the nigh-impossible: corporate intrigue that was genuinely compelling, thanks in no small part to the stellar cast who made the absolute most of some dynamite writing.

The fourth and final season of the series garnered considerable critical acclaim when it aired, and will undoubtedly receive more plaudits at tonight’s strike-delayed Emmy Awards, where it is up for a staggering 27 awards, the most nominations of any show this year.

In addition to being hotly-tipped to win Outstanding Drama Series, Succession also dominates the Best Actor in a Drama category, with Jeremy Strong, Brian Cox and Kieran Culkin all in the running, while Sarah Snook is nominated for Best Actress. The Supporting Actor category is also full of Succession stars, with Matthew McFadyen, Nicholas Braun, Alexander Skarsgard and Alan Ruck all competing against each other.

Tonight’s ceremony will be something of a swansong for the cast and creative team, and represents the last time for the entertainment industry to give the hugely popular drama its flowers.

When Season 4 of Succession began airing on HBO in March 2023, fans were informed that it would be the show’s last—and the mid-season death of Brian Cox’s patriarch Logan Roy certainly brought a renewed sense of momentum to the series’ original premise, which centered on which of the vicious, spoiled Roy heirs would end up taking over the family’s media empire.

However, there are a few slim shreds of hope for more Roy drama that you can put in your ludicrously capacious bag.

Will there be a Season 5 of Succession?

Speaking on Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, Kieran Culkin, who plays Roman Roy, said that series creator Jesse Armstrong was teasing the possibility of a fifth season when they began filming Season 4.

“Jesse told us at the season’s start that he thought this was the last one,” he said. “And then he explained the entire season to me. When he finished, I said, ‘Well, that kind of sounds like the end,’ and he goes, ‘Well, it could be, but…’ and then he just spat out three ideas that he said were just off the top of his head, and that were all brilliant ideas for a fifth season.”

However, in an interview with the New Yorker, Armstrong confirmed pretty concretely that this will be the last we see of the Roy family.

“It’s pretty definitively the end, so then it just might be uncomfortable having to sort of dissemble like a politician for ages about it,” he said. “Hopefully, the show is against bullshit, and I wouldn’t like to be bullshitting anyone when I was talking about it.”

“You know, there’s a promise in the title of Succession,” he continued. “I’ve never thought this could go on forever. The end has always been kind of present in my mind. From Season 2, I’ve been trying to think: Is it the next one, or the one after that, or is it the one after that?”

But what about a Succession spin-off?

Theoretically, there are plenty of Succession spin-offs that could work: Connor Roy (Alan Ruck) in his life of politics. Jess Jordan (Juliana Canfield) doing whatever her life leads her to after finally leaving Kendall Roy. Stewy being Stewy.

But HBO, as of now, has no plans for that.

“I’ll never say never, but my instinct and based on a number of conversations about the evolution of Succession and these characters, at this stage, there is no intention of spinning any one character off,” HBO head of drama Francesca Orci told Deadline in May 2023. “Jesse, should he do a series again, I think it will be entirely original. Whether it’s based on IP or not, I’m not sure, but it will be a new show, a new idea entirely.”