Doom Patrol season 4's release date is officially revealed, confirming the hit DC series will return to HBO Max this December after a year.
After a year-long hiatus, Doom Patrol season 4's release date has officially been revealed. Based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name, the show revolves around the dysfunctional group of Jane, a superpowered woman living with DID, Rita Farr, a former actress whose body transforms into a gelatinous state, Larry Trainor, a former Air Force pilot whose encounter with an alien species left him with bizarre abilities and a disfigured appearance, Cliff Steele, a race car driver who nearly died in a car accident and had his brain implanted in a robotic body, and Vic Stone, better known as Cyborg. Doom Patrol features an ensemble cast led by Diane Guerrero, April Bowlby, Joivan Wade, Matt Bomer, Brendan Fraser and Timothy Dalton.
Developed by Supernatural alum Jeremy Carver, Doom Patrol has scored consistently rave reviews across its first three seasons, with praise aimed at the show's unconventional storytelling, character development, and the performances from its cast. Having originally premiered on DC Universe prior to its being restructured as a digital comic book subscription service, the DC Comics series shifted to HBO Max with season 2 and 3, where it scored more consistent success and earned a season 4 renewal. Though further restructuring of the streaming platform has left some doubts about its future, audiences are at least finding out when Doom Patrol will be back to grace their screens.
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As part of DC's New York Comic-Con panel, of which Screen Rant was in attendance, it was officially announced that Doom Patrol season 4 would return to HBO Max on December 8. The release date comes just over a year after season 3 reached its conclusion on the streaming platform. At the time of writing, it's unknown how many episodes Doom Patrol season 4 will consist of.
As with prior seasons, Doom Patrol season 3 delivered plenty of emotional character arcs for its central team members, with Fraser's Cliff struggling with Parkinson's and repairing his relationship with his daughter, while Wade's Cyborg underwent a synthetic skin transplant to remove his implants, Bowlby's Rita embarked on a time-traveling journey of discovery, Guerrero's Jane continued to grapple with her other identities, and Bomer's Larry gave birth to an alien larva. Unlike the prior two seasons, which ended on relatively grand cliffhangers for the team, season 3 ended on a relatively modest note, with the group having finally decided to pull together as a superhero team, which Rita and Cliff humorously agree upon calling Doom Force, and using Madame Rouge's time machine to head to the Suez Canal to battle a testicle-like monster. The biggest story threads seemingly left to explore heading into Doom Patrol season 4 are that of Cliff's continued struggle with his Parkinson's and Jane allowing Dr. Harrison to take over as the primary identity.
What will be interesting to see regarding Doom Patrol season 4 is whether it tries to set up future seasons of the hit show. Following a variety of changes at HBO Max by new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, including shelving both Batgirl and Scoob! A Haunted Halloween, despite both being completed, it seems likely the show's future will truly depend on its season 4 performance, though with Peacemaker season 2 and Harley Quinn season 4 moving forward, the door does seem open for the more offbeat team to continue their time on screen. Only time will tell when Doom Patrol season 4 premieres on HBO Max on December 8.
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Grant Hermanns is a News Writer, Interviewer and Hiring Manager for Screen Rant, having joined the team in early 2021. Way back in 2015 while still in his college days, Grant got his start in the entertainment journalism industry with creator-friendly site Moviepilot until it shuttered nearly three years later. From there he joined the staff at ComingSoon.net and was its Associate Editor prior to coming over to Screen Rant. To say he's a lover of film and television would be an understatement and when he's not mass consuming either you can find him exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends or slowly making his way through his gaming backlog.