Will There Be a 'Marie Antoinette' Season 3? Season 2's Finale Sets Up More Drama

Marie Antoinette's Season 2 finale was an hour stuffed to the bustles with drama. Big speeches were successfully given, deals less successfully struck; heirs died, other potential heirs discovered they weren't dying, just being steadily poisoned by their spouse. The Season 2 finale then sped up time so that the mob was at the gates, demanding grain from people who only had silks and ostrich feathers to spare. As Louis XVI made the fatal decision not to flee the country, and the royal family stood their ground, fans were all asking the same question: When does Marie Antoinette Season 3 get here?

The good news for fans (if there is any good news in the current entertainment landscape) is that producer Capa Drama is rumored to have first pitched the series to Canal+ as a three-season run. That certainly fits the show's arc, as the first season saw Antoinette and Louis fall in love and become the rulers of France, and Season 2 has focused on their troubled marriage and the political mistakes they've made along the way, leaving their fall as the final season's main plot.

However, Canal+ has not yet greenlit a third season. But that doesn't mean the show isn't coming back. European TV networks move slowly, especially as the co-production climate enters a deep freeze.

Take Season 2's renewal for example. The series first aired in France in October 2022, and then followed on BBC Two three months later. The series debuted on PBS in mid-March 2023, six months after its run on Canal+; it arrived with a Season 2 confirmation, in what appeared to be a deliberate choice to entice American viewers, many of whom were hardcore fans of the show's lead-in, Sanditon. (Sanditon was infamously canceled before it debuted in the U.S., leading to a years-long fan campaign to get a second season.) Even with the renewal notice, Season 2 didn't begin production until the end of 2023, a process that lasted for a good part of 2024.

For the show's second season, the producers switched around which country got episodes first. The show first debuted in France, naturally, arriving on Canal+ in January 2025, followed almost directly on PBS, debuting once again in mid-March, less than two weeks after its conclusion overseas. Season 2 has not yet aired on BBC Two, though all episodes arrived as a binge on iPlayer the same week the series' finale aired in the States. In short, it hadn't even been six months since the new season premiered in France, and there are no numbers for U.K. viewership as yet to help bolster the argument for a third season.

With the show's debut on iPlayer and the six-month mark right around the corner, fans can probably expect to hear a confirmation for Season 3 sooner rather than later.  If and when the show is greenlit for a finale run, viewers can expect the return of Emilia Schüle (Berlin Station) as the title character, Marie Antoinette, and Louis Cunningham (Bridgerton) as Louis XVI. 

The ensemble cast returnees for a final season would also include Jack Archer (Call the Midwife) as Provence, the future Louis XVIII; Roxane Duran (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) as Joséphine; Oscar Lesage (Dangerous Liaisons) as Chartres, who has become Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans; Crystal Shepherd-Cross (Versailles) as Adelaïde; Caroline Piette (Munch) as Victoire; Jasmine Blackborow (Shadow & Bone) as Lamballe; Martijn Lakemeier (Safe Harbor) as Fersen, and Yoli Fuller (The Veil) as Saint-Georges.

A third season would be penned by series creator Deborah Davis (The Favourite), and executive produced by Claude Chelli, Stéphanie Chartreux, Margaux Balsan, and Louise Ironside. The series is a CANAL+ Creation Originale produced by CAPA Drama, Banijay Studios France, and Beside Productions.

All episodes of Marie Antoinette Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream for members on PBS Passport, the PBS App, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. We will keep a sharp eye out for updates on Season 3's commission.