I’m pretty sure the Yellowjackets are plotting a major character death in the new season 3, and Hilary Swank doesn’t look too safe either

Of all upcoming horror tv shows set to give the audience goosebumps, I am personally very excited and eager Yellow jackets Season 3which will add a blood-red hue to Valentine’s Day when it arrives on Winter schedule of TV programs 2025. Now that the new episodes are pretty much hyped, Showtime is giving fans plenty to look at and think about, and the footage-filled First Look trailer is now our last hint at which characters might be killed off next.

The trailer certainly looks like one of our main survivors is doomed, and it also sets up a gory introduction to the new character portrayed by the Oscar winner Hilary Swank. Let’s break it down a bit!

A screenshot of the coach looking at the knotted noose-like rope in Yellowjackets Season 3 — (Image credit: Yellowjackets)

Looks like the trainer is on the last leg of the… er… leg

The The season 2 finale is over things look almost hopeless for the survivors, and the cabin burns to the ground. Coach Ben seemed to be the arsonist who set him on fire, possibly because he condemned everyone for eating the recently drowned Xavi. This means that the football team may suspect and mistreat him in Season 3, as well as suffer severe hunger.

After watching the Season 3 trailer, I can’t think of anyone who looks worse than the Coach in the few moments he’s shown. His beard is longer and uneven. He appears to scream desperately at one point, possibly during an attack. And then there’s that extremely predictable shot of him standing in the background looking at the knotted rope hanging. But does this mean that one day he will succumb to suicidal urges, or that his fellow wreckers will pull him up and feast on his still-present limbs?

A screenshot of Melissa wearing a hat backwards in yellow jackets, season 3

(Image credit: Yellowjackets)

Melissa may also be doomed

Jenna Burgess’s Melissa was first introduced in Season 2 as an outsider to the Yellowjackets and hasn’t had much of an impact on the drama until now. But she’s in the spotlight for a few moments in the trailer, and one of them makes it seem like her time in the spotlight won’t be without threats.

It’s unclear who the aggressor is, but one brief shot in the trailer shows one of the teenagers pushing Melissa with her back against a tree and holding a knife to her throat. With the way the trailer’s logic works, this run is 100% not going to end with Melissa dying by slitting her throat. But I think that means she’ll be a prominent enough character in the season to earn such a moment in the trailer, thus setting her up as body count fodder later in the season. Sorry to be so pessimistic Melissa.

Screenshot of Hilary Swank's new character injured on the road next to her car in Yellowjackets Season 3

(Image credit: Yellowjackets)

Hilary Swank’s character seems to be in trouble as well

Probably Yellow jacketsThe biggest addition to Season 3’s casting, Hilary Swank will play a character who… well, we don’t know yet. The few seconds we see of her in the trailer are essentially all we’ve had to go through since her first role, but they thankfully provided a few takeaways.

First, it’s not entirely clear what timeline Swank is on. One would assume that she is in the timeline of the adult characters since she is obviously an adult as well. But there doesn’t seem to be anything to back it up, although I’m not vehicularly educated enough to know if a ride on the footage would actually back it up. Regardless of the exact setting, the character is clearly injured in various places and appears to be facing some dire threat.

The way she reacts makes me think it’s something massive and inhuman, like a tidal wave or a giant swarm of bees. But what if it’s not in the current timeline, and Swank’s character sees a large group of maniacal teenagers in homemade masks howling and running at her from the woods? It certainly warrants an obscene “Oh shit!”

Check out the trailer below if you haven’t already!

There’s also a moment in the new trailer where Ella Purnell’s long-dead Jackie appears in Melanie Lynskey’s Shauna, presumably as a hallucination. And there is a picture Elijah WoodWalter, just in case anyone thought he wasn’t coming back. I can’t wait.

Yellow jackets The third season premieres on February 14, 2025, and the first two seasons are available to stream via Paramount+ subscription or a Netflix subscription.