The only concrete information regarding the upcoming season is Will Trent season 3’s release date. It is scheduled to premiere in early 2025, and since it contains 18 episodes that will air back-to-back, season 3 will likely debut in January 2025 (if ABC wants the finale to air in May like usual). The main cast (including Ramón Rodríguez, Erika Christensen, Iantha Richardson, Sonja Sohn, and Jake McLaughlin) is expected to return. However, the events of the Will Trent season 2 finale could change everything.
Here’s everything audiences know about Will Trent’s upcoming Season 3.
Will Trent follows the titular character, a former child of the foster care system who grows up to become a highly skilled special against the Georgia Bureau of Investigation where he maintains an impressive amount of solved cases.
Is Will Trent Season 3 Happening?
Yes, Will Trent Season 3 is officially happening. News of its renewal came on April 3, 2024m as confirmed by the major Hollywood trades.
TVLine has since reported Season 3 will run for 18 episodes and will air in a non-stop and break-free run in the midseason starting in early 2025.
Both Will Trent and The Rookie will air their current season finales on Tuesday, May 21, and both are now confirmed not to return until 2025.
In a statement shared by Deadline, Disney TV Group President Craig Erwich explained how the decision to save Will Trent and The Rookie for the midseason was to ensure both can “have a truly uninterrupted run:”
“We held the return of these shows till midseason so they can have truly an uninterrupted run for that season, which I think is a very powerful weapon in terms of watching our shows. And with New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and all of our events that we have in December, January is one of the best times to launch new shows.”
As Will Trent Seasons 1 and 2 arrived roughly 10 months after they were ordered, the upcoming third season ought to arrive around March 2025.
An 18-episode uninterrupted run for Season 3 would likely place the finale at some point in July based on a potential March premiere.
The Possible Introduction of Sara Linton
For fans of the Will Trent book series written by Karin Slaughter, the name Sara Linton almost certainly rings some bells.
While Slaughter first introduced her in an earlier book of a different series (namely, in the Grant County series, with 2001’s Blindsighted), she would eventually move to the Will Trent series, where she made her first appearance in 2009’s Undone.
Sara Linton would then go on to become an integral part of Will Trent’s life, serving as a major love interest for the leading character. On top of her relationship with Will, she’s also the pediatrician and part-time coroner for the fictional town of Heartsdale, GA.
While speaking to TVline, Ramón Rodríguez admitted that in brainstorming what Season 3 of the show will look like, he’s “sure the [Sara Linton] conversation will come up:”
The actor went on to add that their showrunners and producers “want to be really smart about how you bring in such a big character:”
“Our showrunners, Liz [Heldens] and Dan [Thomsen], and all of the producers, want to be really smart about how you bring in such a big character and do it justice… If and when, the timing of that is key…. There are people who are fans of the books that want to see that [and] there are people who have joined the show who have never read the books and are now maybe going to read the books. I know there’s a lot of chatter about it, though.”
What Will Season 3 Be About?
Since the series has not yet heavily adapted any particular book, instead choosing to be inspired by several installments at a time, it’s hard to give a good educated guess about what Season 3 will look like.
If Sara Linton is introduced, then perhaps the story could pull a lot from her first Will Trent appearance, which occurred in the 2009 novel Undone. That story, on top of following Will Trent and Sara Linton’s first meeting, also focuses on a brutal killer who tends to torture his victims, one of whom Will finds buried in the woods.
If the creatives behind Will Trent instead wanted to put a heavy focus on one of their supporting characters, Fallen could be a good installment to adapt. The fifth entry in the book series is a very personal one for Faith Mitchell, who sees her mother in danger, a deadly hostage situation, and several key loyalties on the line.
Expected Returning Cast Members
Fans should expect most of the main cast of characters to return. Since the renewal of Season 3 is so fresh, there isn’t any word on any new characters or actors joining the series.
Here are the handful of characters who fans should expect to see again:
Ramón Rodríguez – Special Agent Will Trent
Erika Christensen – Angie Polaski
Iantha Richardson – Faith Mitchell
Jake Richardson – Michael Ormewood
Sonja Sohn – Amada Wagner
Ramón Rodríguez – Special Agent Will Trent
Ramón Rodríguez plays the titular Special Agent Will Trent
While many fans think the character may be autistic, no such diagnosis has been confirmed in the series. He is, however, dyslexic, something that challenges Will Trent often.
Season 2 ended with audiences finally learning about a key tragic event in the character’s past. After shooting his violent foster father when he was twelve years old, his foster mother, Anna, intervened to protect her son, resulting in her being shot dead.
Other projects that Rodríguez has done include The Affair, Gang Related, and Charlie’s Angels.
[ Is Will Trent Autistic? The Character’s Disabilities Explained ]
Erika Christensen – Angie Polaski
Angie Polaski, is an Atlanta Police Department detective who has a complicated, on-and-off relationship with Will Trent.
By the time Season 2 comes to its conclusion, Angie seems to be invested in a proper long-term relationship with Will. Though, if Sara Linton’s arrival is just around the corner, then that partnership may be doomed to fail.
Fans can also spot Christensen in Wicked City, Ten Days in the Valley, Clover, and more.
Iantha Richardson – Faith Mitchell
Iantha Richardson’s Faith Mitchell is the dedicated work partner of Will Trent at the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation).
The last time fans see Faith in Season 2 is following her successfully solving a missing person case of an African American little girl that has remained open for over a decade.
Richardson also has roles in This Is Us, Good Trouble, and American Soul.
Jake McLaughlin – Michael Ormewood
Michael Ormewood, played by Jake McLaughlin, is an Atlanta Police Detective who is partnered with Angie Polaski.
In the final episode of Season 2, Ormewood came to realize how difficult it is to talk about his past in the service. Perhaps those open wounds will be further explored in Season 3.
McLaughlin can also be seen in other shows such as Quantico and Black Bird.
Sonja Sohn – Amanda Wagner
Will Trent’s mentor figure is Sonja Sohn’s Amanda Wagner, who is also the deputy director of the GBI.
Sohn is mostly known for her time as Detective Shakima ‘Kima’ Greggs in The Wire.
