‘Manifest’ Season 4 Filming and Cast Updates

We all know the crushing defeat of hearing our favorite show has been canceled. But some of us know the excitement of seeing that show come back to life. Manifesters are part of that lucky crowd, as the once-canceled hit will now come back for Manifest Season 4. 

The team announced this exciting news on 8:28 on 8/28/2021, a callback to the infamous Flight 828 that began the show. But who do we have to thank for bringing back the show? And when can we get a look at the fourth and final season? Here’s everything we know so far about Manifest Season 4.

Manifest Season 4 Production

The cast and crew of Manifest have Netflix and their dedicated fanbase to thank for the TV show’s rebirth. NBC canceled the show, and Netflix picked up the streaming rights. It quickly skyrocketed in popularity, spending quite a bit of time in the No. 1 spot and hanging out in the Top 10 for even longer.

Manifest smashed streaming-rating records, as it racked up a billion views a week for six weeks straight. In September, it became the third show in the streaming giant’s history to be in the Top 10 for 100 days.

If the streaming numbers didn’t speak for themselves, fans made themselves loud and clear. Between petitions to bring back the show and tweets from several celebrities, the fanbase made themselves heard online. Demi Lovato and Kourtney Kardashian shared their love of the show on social media, and Stephen King tweeted “#SaveManifest.”

Creator Jeff Rake told Entertainment Weekly, “There is something very meta about the show’s death and rebirth, given that that’s the story of the series itself.”

The August announcement was abrupt, so the writers’ room had to get to work. However, they had something exciting to work with: a brand new budget. Instead of the $4 million per episode they had while with NBC, Netflix promised $5 million. 

The cast and crew reassembled and Rake confirmed that filming began in NYC on November 18, 2021, with a photo on set. Cast member J.R. Raminez, the actor who plays Detective Jared Vazquez, tweeted “It’s only day one and you can already feel the Level of Appreciation this group has for the Magical Ride that is Manifest!”

Manifest Cast

With the canceling and reviving of the show, getting the Manifest cast back together was a little tricky. Once NBC canceled, the studio asked the cast for an extension of their contracts while they looked for Manifest Season 4 to get picked up by another network.

Rake said, “All of the actors were kind enough to do [that] for a couple of more weeks. And then we got to a point where no one was immediately stepping up, and at this point, those contracts have expired.” Once those contracts expired, the actors became free agents and had the opportunity to pursue other projects.

When Netflix renewed the show two months after picking up the streaming rights, the studio had to scramble to get the actors back together. 

Josh Dallas as Ben Stone, J.R. Ramirez as Detective Jared Vasquez, and Melissa Roxburgh as Michaela Stone were the first actors confirmed for the new season. On September 9, 2021, Parveen Kaur as Saanvi Bahl, Luna Blaise as Olive Stone, and Holly Taylor as Angelina Meyer joined the returning cast. The very next day, Daryl Edwards as NSA director Robert Vance was promoted to being a series regular. 

At first, it was unclear if Matt Long as Zeke Landon would return, as he had a conflicting project with the NBC pilot for Getaway. However, TVLine confirmed that he will return. And Rake explained that the character Zeke can now “complete his Manifest journey just as originally intended.”

Manifest Season 4 Release Date

So while production is underway, there is not a concrete release date yet. Our best guess is in spring 2022. But whenever it does premiere, we are not likely to get all 20 episodes at once. Rake said, “It might take a minute for a brand-new batch of episodes to show up in people’s homes, but it’s going to be worth the wait.”

Rake mentioned the first “batch” of new episodes, hinting that the 20 episode season will be released in at least two parts. 

However and whenever Manifest Season 4 releases, we can’t wait to see how the story ends!