After Netflix saved Manifest for a fourth and final season, many are still wondering if Season 5 is in the cards.
Created by Jeff Rake, Manifest revolves around the story of the passengers and crew members of Montego Air Flight 828 who reappeared after being presumed dead for five and a half years.
Manifest Season 1 premiered on NBC on September 24, 2018. In October 2019, the network renewed the series for a second season.
Following Season 2's success, NBC renewed Manifest for Season 3 in June 2020, but it was ultimately canceled by the network in June 2021 due to low viewership.
Despite the cancellation, Netflix swooped in and saved the series in August 2021 by renewing it for Season 4. Part 1 premiered on the streaming service in November 2022 while Part 2 debuted in June 2023.
Is Manifest Renewed for Season 5?
In November 2022, Manifest creator Jeff Rake told Deadline that Season 4's 20 episodes "turned out to be plenty" for them to tell the series' "complete story."
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly in September 2022, Rake even revealed that he considers Season 4 Part 2 as Season 5:
"I just decided, for my purposes, that I was going to treat the story as if we had been gifted two 10-episode seasons."
In an official statement during its Season 4 renewal, Netflix implied that the show's return allowed it to finish strong rather than risk being canceled:
"Jeff Rake and his team have crafted a beguiling mystery that has viewers around the world on the edge of their seats and believing again in second chances, and we're thrilled that they will bring fans some closure with this final super-sized season."
Rake's comments implied that he and the writers had to write Season 4 as the true final season.
Interestingly, Manifest star Melissa Roxburgh revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November 2022 that she thought that Season 3 was the final season, noting that they filmed "part of the ending" then:
"In season three they had us film part of the ending. That’s when I found out. I don’t even think they wound up using what we filmed, but Jeff [Rake] decided that since we were filming it he would tell us more about what was going on. But the script delivery has been the same for every season, we would get them about a week before, so we didn’t have the details of the final episode until we were really in the thick of it. It was so complex that even while we were filming the finale, we didn’t have the entire script."
Although Manifest was saved before by Netflix, it appears that it will only be a one-time thing and a season 5 at this point is extremely unlikely.
Manifest's super-sized fourth season is a blessing on its own as it allowed the series to wrap its story on its own terms.
Will There Be a Manifest Spin-Off?
Manifest Season 4 ended where it all began, with some of the passengers safely landing back on the ground in New York on April 7, 2013. The ending meant that the worthy passengers were given a second chance at life.
While the show managed to tie up loose ends, there is still potential for more storytelling opportunities.
In May 2023, Manifest lead star Josh Dallas told The Hollywood Reporter about potential spin-off ideas for the series, noting that such projects could "go into the future" and focus on Eden:
"I think there’s major sequel or spinoff potential here. Maybe we go into the future and see Eden [his character’s daughter] at 21 or so as she’s navigating the world, or we follow the younger passengers. Maybe we go back to 2013 and deep dive into the investigation with [NSA director] Vance."
Dallas' comments about exploring Eden's story in the far future are exciting, but it would take an interesting story similar to what Manifest tackled for it to move forward.
It would feel repetitive, though, if the spin-off featured the same premise that Manifest did for four seasons.
However, a strong approach for any Manifest spin-off is to uncover more of the show's supernatural elements and unexplained facets.
Another season of Manifest could also explore fresh stories from a new batch of characters, introducing more compelling storylines anchored by concepts that the show already introduced.
All four seasons of Manifest are available to stream on Netflix.
