Good news/bad news, Orville fans: Hulu has released a new sneak peek at the long-on-hiatus sci-fi series’ third season… as well as the news that instead of arriving in March, it’ll now begin streaming in June. Fortunately, the peek is a juicy one and will almost make you forget about the latest delay. Check it out!
We see the ship taking a beating in a big-arse space battle (in case anyone forget The Orville is actually really good at those, with a full orchestral score backing everything up!), with Dr. Finn’s young sons Ty and Marcus encountering a version of Isaac we’ve certainly never seen — he has gone rogue before, but this is a whole new (terrifying) look for the Kaylon. Could it be a dream sequence? We’ll have to wonder while we wait, since there’s no word on any plot details from Hulu; the official synopsis for this season is “Set 400 years in the future, The Orville: New Horizons finds the crew of the U.S.S. Orville continuing their mission of exploration, as they navigate both the mysteries of the universe and the complexities of their own interpersonal relationships.”
And while the new delay is unfortunate, series creator Seth MacFarlane feels your pain, as evidenced by the tweet he shared this morning (which also confirms that yes, those are new opening credits in the clip above): “To all the Orville fans: Thanks for being so patient with us as we’ve navigated the production challenges resulting from the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. As occasionally happens, our show has been repositioned amidst the ever-changing television schedule landscape, which means that the wait will be just a bit longer, and we’re not preparing for a June 2nd launch on Hulu. We’ve always promised you a television experience that will make it worth the wait, and we’re not wavering on that. We understand the frustration you’re feeling over more delays, so we want to give you a little taste of what’s to come. Here’s a sneak peek at the first few minutes of our season opener, and our new main title!”
Hulu also shared an new image from season three (check it out above), which gives a glimpse of new cast member Anne Winters, who’s playing ship navigator Ensign Charly Burke. The rest of the cast’s names will be familiar to Orville fans: MacFarlane, of course, along with Adrianne Palicki, Penny Johnson Jerald, Scott Grimes, Peter Macon, J. Lee, Mark Jackson, Chad L. Coleman, and Jessica Szohr.