The HBO Max romantic anthology Love Life has made the jump to Netflix after its cancellation, and the cast and crew previously shared some ideas for Season 3. Across 2020 and 2021, HBO Max debuted two seasons of its romantic comedy anthology Love Life, each season of which followed a person's journey from their first to last love. It explores how "the people we're with along the way make us into who we are when we finally end up with someone forever." Season 1 put the spotlight on Anna Kendrick's Darby Carter while Season 2 pivoted to William Jackson Harper's Marcus Watkins.
Unfortunately, after just two seasons, HBO Max didn't just cancel Love Life, it wiped it from the streaming service altogether in a cost-cutting move in December 2022, despite being among its first-ever originals. More recently, series producer Lionsgate Television licensed Love Life to Netflix for release on August 5 after the show had spent years widely unavailable and only available on paid VOD services.
As Love Life gets a new lease of life on Netflix, the once-HBO Max original has been opened up to a fresh audience and a popularity surge, charting at #10 on August 7 in Netflix U.S.' Top 10 TV Shows ranking. While there are no signs that the romantic anthology is in line for a renewal, the series' cast and crew previously shared some Season 3 story possibilities with The Wrap.
Anna Kendrick's Darby Carter returned in Season 2 to reveal that her replacement, William Jackson Harper's Marcus Watkins, was a guest at her wedding. It seems this would have been a running trend for Love Life, as, when asked whether Marcus and Darby would return in a potential Season 3, showrunner Sam Boyd joked that the same may be true for "every future protagonist:"
"I’m just hoping we get to Season 47, and all 46 previous protagonists are somehow involved. We’ve often joked that every future protagonist will have been a guest at Darby and Magnus’ wedding."
Despite those hopes, Boyd was clear they were taking things "one step at a time" and would ponder those questions when or if the time came (especially since three seasons ended up being too big a hurdle for Love Life, never mind 47):
"But we’re very much taking it one step at a time. And especially just the collaborative way in which we make this show, so much of it is just taking it season by season and wanting to tell the best story that we can every time we do it and kind of figuring it out from there. So if we’re lucky enough to do more... it’s a bridge that we’ll cross when we get to it."
The second member of the showrunning trio, Bridget Bedard, was clear that "reality and authenticity" are at the heart of Love Life, so these storylines would only interlink as the storyline demanded:
"I would say our North Star is always reality and authenticity. So if it makes sense, we’ll continue to braid the stories together and if not, we’ll try something new. But the idea was always to have a shared universe from season to season."
Co-showrunner Rachelle Williams hyped up the Season 2 opener, handing off from Darby to Marcus, suggesting fans "may see" the latter in a third outing.
"I love the handoff from Season 1 to Season 2. That first scene is great. It feels like that could continue. Like, we may see Marcus in Season 3. And then I don’t know. I mean, it does get crazy trying to carry it on."
Boyd echoed that statement, indicating that "making it more like a relay race makes sense to [him]," passing the baton between each Love Life star.
Kendrick and Harper also spoke with Deadline around the same time and were asked what the future may hold, to which the latter was clear they had "no idea."
The Darby actress elaborated by stating that any further interactions between her and Marcus would have to be "fully in the future," as the COVID-19 pandemic began shortly after their last meeting:
"We really have no idea. It’s funny because we’ve written ourselves into a corner where if there’s ever more interactions between Darby and Marcus it’ll have to be fully in the future which is always dicey. Frankly, in Love Life Season 1, we only went a couple of months into the future and then Covid hit. If we had written a year or more into the future, it wouldn’t have made sense. There’s clearly a danger with writing yourself into the future."
Meanwhile, Harper shared his hopes to see a character "we only saw in an episode or two get a big-a** arc" as the star of Season 3:
"I would love to see more from maybe a character that we only saw in an episode or two get a big-a** arc so we can really dive in. We’re really lucky because everyone is so good and so fun to watch. Yeah, I’d love to go down the rabbit hole with someone new."
Now that both seasons of Love Life are streaming on Netflix and are widely available once more, fans can draw their own conclusions about who could lead a potential (but unlikely) Season 3.
Could Love Life Ever Release a Season 3 on Netflix?
It is important to note that all the Love Life cast and crew's comments refer to Season 3 story possibilities considered when the show was still at HBO Max. Unless Lionsgate lands a deal with Netflix or another distributor, that baton between stars will never pass, as Love Life remains cancelled for the time being.
Netflix has often found success in the romance game, with shows such as Ransom Canyon and Virgin River. So, if Love Life proves successful at its new streaming home, there is always a chance it may pursue a third season from Lionsgate.
However, one issue with developing more Love Life comes from its stacked cast, from Anna Kendrick to William Jackson Harper, and many more. There is a chance that Netflix may not be willing to splash the cash on as many major stars going forward, and could drop back to smaller names if it looks to revive the show.
