Castlevania season 4 trailer, release date, story recap, and what we know

Castlevania is easily one of the best screen adaptations of a video game ever, and one of the best Netflix shows to date. With gorgeously-animated action scenes, as well as sharp dialogue and characterization from writer and show creator Warren Ellis, we now know season 4 is official. 

Not only that, but recent teases from Netflix's official Twitter account - as well as from staff working on Castlevania season 4 - suggest that we might not have to wait much longer for the return of Trevor, Sypha and the rest of the vampire hunting troupe.

Castlevania has continuously managed to generate hype across its trio of seasons - on season 3's launch day, it was top 5, as star Richard Armitage shared on Twitter - so it's not a surprise that Netflix confirmed the show was picked up again on March 27, 2020.

Season 3 leaves plenty to be picked up next year – even if the show ended on a pretty unhappy note for everyone, particularly Trevor Belmont and Hector. Below, here's everything we know about Castlevania season 4 so far, including its return on Netflix, what producers have said about the future of the show, and where we think the story will take us next. 

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Castlevania season 4 trailer

Castlevania season 4 is now just a stonesthrow away, launching exclusively on Netflix on May 13. The above trailer certainly has us excited, not least of all with the clear step-up in lighting and animation quality.

It's an action-heavy trailer. We get to see both Trevor and Sypha absolutely demolish skeletons, vampires and more. Sypha especially looks like she's got some monstrously powerful magic up her sleeve once again.

Elsewhere, we see Alucard donning his iconic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night attire. That has us wondering, while this may be the final season of Castlevania, could a sequel series be on the cards? Netflix's Castlevania is loosely based on the events of Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse, originally released on the NES. We'd love nothing more than another round of adventures based on Alucard's quest in Symphony of the Night.

Castlevania season 4 release date

Why must we wait for so long between seasons of animated shows? Netflix's fast renewals may be down to them requiring a long lead time for production purposes, but each successive season of Castlevania has also been longer than the last.

There was a 15-month gap between seasons 1 and 2, and 16 after that. This pattern seemed to hold somewhat true for Castlevania season 4, as we'll be returning to the adventures of Trevor, Sypha and Alucard on May 13.

Just prior to the announcement of Castlevania season 4's release date, Netflix's official Twitter account shared some gorgeous promotional art for the series, accompanied by two simple words: "we're back." 

The image is loaded with a good amount of juicy info if you look hard enough. Most prominently featured is Alucard's acquisition of his iconic shield from PS1 classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

It looks like for gloves are coming off for major antagonist Carmilla, too, who looks to have undergone a beastly transformation fitting of her vampiric powers.

Bill Nighy's Count Saint-Germain also appears in the promotional image, implying that his story hasn't concluded just yet. We're excited to see how season 4 makes use of the character, especially given the strange journey he embarks on in season 3's finale.

Castlevania season 4 story: what will happen next? 

Castlevania season 3 ends fairly miserably for most of the central cast, with a few threads left to be picked up for season 4 (spoilers obviously ahead). 

In the final moments of episode 10, Alucard retreats into his castle, much like "dear old dad" Dracula, leaving the dead bodies of friends-turned-betrayers Taka and Sumi outside to ward off visitors – with an uneasy sense that this ally may be pushed down a darker path than we hoped.

Trevor and Sypha manage to close the Infinite Corridor, and prevent Dracula (Adrian Tepes) from returning to Earth, and even help character Count St Germain enter the portal to search for his long-lost... person of interest. But with a burned-down village and some monstrous secrets behind them, Trevor and Sypha are far from their happy selves we saw at the start of the season.

Hector, meanwhile, is enslaved by Lenore – he's now her "pet", as she puts it. The finale makes it clear that any night creatures made by Hector will obey him, and therefore Carmilla's court, giving them a lot of power going forwards. It's a very dark ending for the character, without much sense of an easy escape from the situation.

Fellow forgemaster Isaac's arc ends on a more positive note, with hope for his future and a small hint that his aims may have changed from destruction of the human race to something more redemptive, or constructive – even if he's going to be using an undead army and spilling a lot of blood along the way.

On the ending of season 3, Warren Ellis told Collider "Yeah, it doesn't necessarily end happily, but it feels kind of truthful to the situation that was instigated at the top of season one. These things have happened in the world, they don't go away. There is no reset. It's not like everyone is going to forget about vampires, night creatures, and magic. And these things are now off the leash and reveling to some extent, in the chaos."

All of this should play into Castlevania season 4, now that the show has been renewed.

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If we know one thing about Castlevania season 4 it's that we should always expect the unexpected. 

In an interview with Collider, Ellis and executive producer Kevin Kolde were asked about the future of the show. "I'm not sure where we can go," Kolde says. "At the end of Season 3, [the story is] at a very different place than you think it’s going to be. Season 3 sort of starts with new hope, new beginning, and you think everything's going to be great and happy, and then Warren pulls the rug out from under you, and it goes to shit. So look, there's definitely unfinished business and unfinished stories that I think we could easily [continue.]"

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