Narcos: Mexico – Picture: Gaumont / Netflix
Netflix officially renewed Narcos: Mexico in late October 2020 but had been in active development long before then. With filming now officially over, we can begin the countdown to the season 3 release.Here’s everything we know about the third season of Narcos: Mexico coming soon to Netflix globally.
Narcos: Mexico is the Netflix Original crime drama series created by Chris Brancato and Doug Miro. Originally scheduled to be the fourth season of the popular crime-drama Narcos, the decision was to ultimately produce Narcos: Mexico as a spin-off.
So far, actors such as Diego Luna and Michael Pena have featured in Narcos: Mexico and continues to be well-received by audiences and critics alike. The second season dropped on February 13th, 2020 with the first premiering in late 2018.
Has Netflix renewed Narcos: Mexico for a third season?
Netflix renewal status: Renewed (Last Updated: 10/28/2020)
Despite there being no word from Netflix surrounding the renewal of Narcos: Mexico for months, it was thought that season 3 was renewed for a number of months before the actual announcement in October 2020.
In an interview in May 2020 with Rolling Stone, Latin pop-star Bad Bunny revealed that earlier in the year he was shooting scenes as a supporting actor for Narcos: Mexico. But due to the Coronavirus, production for the series had to be postponed. Bad Bunny also revealed that he hopes to shoot Narcos later in 2020.
On October 28th, 2020 – we got word via The Hollywood Reporter that the show has been officially renewed but will come with a number of big changes.
New showrunner and missing actor for Narcos: Mexico season 3
One of the big announcements for Narcos: Mexico season 3 was that it was going to be swapping out its showrunner for the third season.
Carlo Bernard will be taking over full reigns of the showrunning duty from Eric Newman for season 3. Carlo has been involved with the show for all five seasons of the show so should be able to hit the ground running.
Newman on the big changes told THR:
“I am grateful for my five years at the helm of Narcos and Narcos: Mexico, and immensely proud of what this spectacular team has achieved with these shows. When we began this endeavor — making a show in two languages, in a country that had never seen this kind of production — it seemed insane. But Netflix saw its potential then and their faith in us never wavered. Carlo Bernard is the first person I ever spoke to about this project, over 10 years ago, and I am extremely pleased to leave the steering of season 3 of Narcos: Mexico in his extremely capable hands.”
THR also reports that it’s not clear if Diego Luna is appearing as Netflix was unable to confirm although Scoot McNairy would be returning.
We also learned that Wagner Moura, who played Pablo Escobar in the early seasons of Narcos, will return to direct two episodes in season 3.
Also confirmed to be directing in season 3 includes:
- Andrés Baiz
- Alejandra Marquez
- Luis Ortega
- Amat Escalante
What Else to Expect from Narcos: Mexico season 3
Even though the story of Félix Gallardo is all but over, a bloodbath awaits us for the third season of Narcos: Mexico.
Here’s the official synopsis for Narcos: Mexico season 3:
“Season 3 examines the war that breaks out after Felix’s empire splinters. As newly independent cartels struggle to survive political upheaval and escalating violence, a new generation of Mexican kingpins emerge. But in this war, truth is the first casualty – and every arrest, murder and take-down only pushes real victory further away.”
Now let’s carry on with our predictions for the third season:
Despite the power and influence that Félix had amassed over the course of his time as head of the Guadalajara Cartel, it was just as easily dismantled in a few fell swoops.
When DEA agent Walt Breslin visited Félix in prison, we learned the reality of the situation that the DEA and all of the law enforcement now faces without Félix at the helm of the federation. Félix was right, if all of the plazas had been working together unanimously, then they could have pushed out the Columbians and made billions together.
Without Félix as the figurehead with all the connections, each of the plazas, which have now become their own respective cartels, will eventually fight each other. The entire time Félix had maintained peace in Mexico, but now “all of the animals run free” and war and bloodshed await.
There is bad blood between Tijuana and Sinaloa, and from what we know of history the two cartels go to war. With Félix in prison, the series will need a new antagonist, and that will be none other than Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The war on drugs has only just begun.
The real ‘El Chapo’ (left) and actor Alejandro Edda (right) as Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán in Narcos: Mexico
Who is ‘El Chapo’?
Even without context, there are many people in this world who will have at some point heard of the name El Chapo. Now serving a life sentence in prison in the USA, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was once the leader of the Sinaloan cartel, and under his leadership, it became the richest and most powerful cartel in Mexico.
During his reign, there were record levels of drugs being smuggled into the USA and Europe from Mexico. His influence and power have been compared to that of Pablo Escobar, and his notoriety the level of Al Capone. Overall it was estimated that El Chapo had assets worth roughly $12.6 billion.
In total El Chapo was arrested three times but had escaped on two occasions. On his first escape, his return to the cartel and subsequent thirteen years in power was devasting for the US and Mexican government’s War on Drugs.
New Cast for Narcos: Mexico season 3
In July 2020, we got word of a number of new characters that were being cast for Narcos: Mexico season 3 with cast members later being confirmed in November 2020.
Below we’ll take you through each of the new characters that eventually got confirmed for the new season:
- Luis Gerardo Méndez as Victor Tapia – “a Juarez cop with a moral dilemma who, despite his misgivings over getting involved, is drawn into the mystery of a series of brutal killings”
- Alberto Guerra as Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada – “an independent drug trafficker whose unassuming manner belies the fact that he is quietly one step ahead of everyone else”
- Luisa Rubino as Andrea Nuñez – “a young, idealistic and ambitious journalist whose mission to expose corruption brings her an even bigger story than she anticipated.”
Also announced (but without character descriptions) were:
- Alejandro Furth as Ramon Salgado
- Lorenzo Ferro as Alex Hodoyan
- José Zúñiga as General Rebollo
- Diego Calva as Arturo Beltran Leyva
- Kristen Lee Gutoskie as Dani
- Beau Mirchoff as Steve Sheridan
Beau Mirchoff is set to appear in Narcos: Mexico season 3 as Steve Whipple. pic.twitter.com/FAirObKQsU
— What’s on Netflix (@whatonnetflix) January 21, 2021
Confirmed to be returning in Narcos: Mexico are:
- José María Yázpik as Amado Carillo Fuentes
- Alfonso Dosal as Benjamín Arellano Félix
- Mayra Hermosillo as Enedina Arellano Felix
- Matt Letscher as DEA agent James Kuykendall
- Manuel Masalva as Ramón Arellano Félix
- Alejandro Edda as Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán
- Gorka Lasaosa as Héctor Palma
When is filming expected to begin for Narcos: Mexico?
After a delay thanks to the global pandemic, filming was finally able to start in the Fall of 2020. Filmimg was confirmed to have come to an end after Luis Gerardo Méndez shared photos on the final day of filming.
When will season 3 of Narcos: Mexico be released on Netflix?
If it were’t for the global pandemic we may have seen the third season arrive on Netflix already, but fans will have to wait just a little while longer.
With filming coming to an end in March, that means the third season is now deep into the post-production. This means we could see the third season of Narcos: Mexico arrive on Netflix by the end of the year.
We’re still waiting for confirmation from Netflix but it’s our expectation that season 3 will arrive in Q4 of 2021, or in Q1 2022.
Would you like to see another season of Narcos: Mexico? Let us know in the comments below!