Locke & Key – Picture: Netflix
Netflix’s young-adult comic adaptation is coming back in 2022 for its third season and final season. Here’s a breakdown of everything we know so far about Locke & Key season 3 including where it is in production, what we can expect, how well season 2 performed, and more.
Netflix actually announced the third season alongside the announcement that Meredith Averill had signed an overall deal with the streamer back in December 2020. That’s roughly 11 months before season 2 then premiere in November 2021.
Before we dig into all things Locke and Key season 3, here’s the first teaser trailer released for the forthcoming final season as revealed at Geeked Week 2022.
How well did Locke & Key season 2 perform on Netflix?
In its first four weeks, the series picked up 143.04 million hours watched on Netflix globally. For comparison, that’s roughly a quarter of Stranger Things season 2 picked up 427.44 million hours in a similar period.
Cowboy Bebop, which launched around the same time as Locke & Key S2, only saw 73.84 million hours viewed in its first three weeks before dropping out. Locke & Key was at 124.27 million at week 3.
According to the Netflix top 10 site, the series stayed in the top 10 English shows for five weeks before dropping out. Number 10 on what would’ve been week six was 10.56 million implying Locke & Key likely fell below 10 million hours watched for that week.
In terms of Netflix’s top 10s, it only survived in the Netflix TV top 10s for 14 days before dropping out. Typically we see very successful shows stick around in the TV top 10s for around 30 days.
According to FlixPatrol, the show performs exceptionally well in India, Italy, Russia, and Pakistan.
LOCKE & KEY – LAYSLA DE OLIVERIA as DODGE
Critics were generally more impressed with the second season as well. It jumped from a 66% for season 1 to 83% on RottenTomatoes with the consensus being:
“Locke & Key improves in a raucous second season that turns on the charm while leaping from one cliffhanger to the next.”
Reviews on IMDb for individual episodes stayed mostly in line with season 1 with the first episode dipping below the average but the finale above.
Why is Locke and Key season 3 the final season at Netflix?
No, the show wasn’t canceled. Instead, back in April 2022 we got word via Deadline that the show is coming to its natural conclusion.
“Once we began working on the series, we felt three seasons was the ideal length to bring the story of the Locke family and their Keyhouse adventures to a satisfying conclusion,” Cuse and Averill said in a statement. “As storytellers, we are grateful that we had the opportunity to tell our version of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s incredible story exactly the way we wanted. We’re keeping the magical keys, though, for our own personal use.”
Where is Season 3 of Locke & Key in production?
Filming on season 3 actually began before season 2 was even released on Netflix.
Carlton Cuse stated the plan was always to have a third season with him telling Collider “We had actually already written a good chunk of Season 3, before we even started filming Season 2.”
As we first reported, filming on Locke & Key season 3 began in early May 2021. Filming then continued through the summer and into Autumn.
According to the Canadian Directors Guide, filming was set to wrap on September 3rd, 2021. Darby Stanchfield posted on September 15th that it was the last day of filming implying it had all wrapped by September 16th. Joe Hill confirmed the conclusion of filming in late October.
Locke & Key season 3 clapper
Post-production on the series then ran through to the end of November 2021 and then sound post is set to take place until the end of February 2022.
What to Expect from Locke & Key Season 3
Season 2 ended episode 10 (appropriately called Cliffhanger) that saw the Lockes go head-to-head with Doge in a “ferocious showdown” with Bode confronting a shocking visitor.
Dodge may be defeated but now Frederick Gideon is going to be the biggest baddy going into season 3. Frederick is an echo of a revolutionary war soldier who is possessed and notably The Black Door’s most formidable demon. Interestingly, the story of the show is now mostly separate to the comic books.
Netflix has provided a broad overview of the third season in their Geeked 2022 preview:
“The Locke family uncovers more magic within Keyhouse, while a new threat — the most dangerous one yet — looms in Matheson with plans of his own for the keys. From Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) and Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House), Locke & Key is a coming-of-age mystery about love, loss, and the unshakable bonds that define family. Locke and Key on Netflix is the television adaptation of the best-selling comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW Entertainment.”
Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill speaking to Collider teased a few things about season 3 including that Tyler not using the memory kill will have consequences saying “decision does have consequences and will change his relationship to his family. You’ll see that play out.”
Meredith Averill said regarding season 3:
“The third season focuses much more heavily on the family. They’re gonna face the greatest threat they’ve had to face yet. That really bonds them in a way that we’ve never seen before. I can’t say more than that. Part of our challenge, that we happily take on, is that every season, we need to outdo the season before it. It’s a challenge, but it’s a fun one, and I think we’ve been able to do that.”
LOCKE & KEY (L to R) JACKSON ROBERT SCOTT as BODE LOCKE, CONNOR JESSUP as TYLER LOCKE, and HALLEA JONES as EDEN HAWKINS in episode 207 of LOCKE & KEY Cr. AMANDA MATLOVICH/NETFLIX © 2021
When will Locke & Key season 3 be on Netflix?
Early on we knew that season 3 will be among the 2022 Netflix roster of shows.
That was confirmed back in November 2021 as part of Netflix’s “Get Geeked” campaign which listed Locke & Key season 3 amongst other “genre” shows scheduled for 2022 including Alice in Borderland, The Witcher: Blood Origin, The Midnight Club, and The Sandman.
Joe Hill has confirmed that there will be a “much shorter wait” for the third season.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It should be a much shorter wait for #lockeandkey season 3. https://t.co/5T0EFpI2sH
— Joe Hill (@joe_hill) October 24, 2021
Then, in June 2022 at Netflix’s Geeked Week we got confirmation that the final season of Locke & Key will be released on August 10th, 2022.
Will there be a Locke & Key crossover with The Sandman?
Finally, a bunch of articles proclaims that because The Sandman is coming to Netflix and because the comic books crossed over, we’ll see a similar crossover on Netflix.
Joe Hill definitively ruled out that possibility back in October 2021.
I just think it’s so cool that @neilhimself let @GR_comics & I play in the Sandman universe for the Hell & Gone comic. It was amazing to have spent some time adventuring in his world. That’s a thing I’m always going to treasure.
— Joe Hill (@joe_hill) October 30, 2021
Everything Else You Need to Know about Locke and Key Season 3
- Kenna Trent who has been working on Locke and Key since season 1 was promoted to writer’s assistant for season 2 and now has been upped again to staff writer for season 3.
- Season 3 will be 10 episodes.
- Edward Ornelas will direct an episode of Locke & Key season 3, his first. He’s directed episodes on shows like The Resident, Taken, Bull, NCIS, and The Blacklist.
- Confirmed cast members for season 3 include:
- Darby Stanchfield as Nina Locke
- Connor Jessup as Tyler Locke
- Emilia Jones as Kinsey Locke
- Jackson Robert Scott as Bode Locke
- Asha Bromfield as Zadie Wells
- Sherri Saum as Ellie Whedon
- Leishe Meyboom as Abby
- Kevin Durand as Frederick Gideon
Are you looking forward to the third season of Locke & Key coming to Netflix? Let us know in the comments.