The official trailer for Love, Death & Robots volume 3 has landed online – and it looks like it'll be the show's most bizarre season yet.
Released on Netflix's social media channels on Monday (May 9), the trailer reveals the episode titles for season 3's nine episodes before giving us a brief look at, well, how they'll look. Based on the footage within, fans best prepare themselves for more sci-fi, horror, dystopian, existential, and humorous antics from the near-10 episode season.
We already knew that Love, Death & Robots volume 3 would land on Netflix on May 20. With its release less than two weeks away, it's high time that we saw more about what its episodes would entail.
Check out the official trailer below:
The teaser confirms that acclaimed director David Fincher (Mank, Mindhunter) will make his animated directorial debut in the Netflix show that he co-executively produces alongside Tim Miller. Here's hoping that Fincher's iconic filming style and techniques are on show in the entry he's helmed.
Alberto Mielgo, whose season 1 episode The Witness won three Emmys, is also back to helm the third season's final entry called Jibaro. Meanwhile, the season opener – Three Robots: Exit Strategies – marks the first time that a season of Love, Death & Robots has contained a direct sequel to a previous episode.
Studios including Miller's Blur production company, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and Pinkman.tv – who have previously animated multiple entries in Love, Death & Robots – also return to deliver gorgeous and grotesque visuals in equal measure.
Here's a full rundown of every Love, Death & Robots volume 3 episodic title, plus those involved in each one's production:
- Three Robots: Exit Strategies (Director – Patrick Osborne; Writer – John Scalzi; Studio: Blow Studio)
- Bad Travelling (David Fincher; Andrew Kevin Walker; Blur Studio)
- The Very Pulse of the Machine (Emily Dean; Philip Gelatt; Polygon Pictures)
- Night of the Mini Dead (Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon; Robert Bisi and Andy Lyon; Buck Studio)
- Kill Team Kill (Jennifer Yuh Nelson; Philip Gelatt; Titmouse Inc.)
- Swarm (Tim Miller; Tim Miller; Blur Studio)
- Mason's Rats (Carlos Stevens; Joe Abercrombie; Axis Studios)
- In Vaulted Halls Entombed (Jerome Chen; Philip Gelatt; Sony Pictures Imageworks)
- Jibaro (Alberto Mielgo; Alberto Mielgo; pinkman.tv)
Fans who want to catch a glimpse of Love, Death & Robots volume 3 can do so by signing up to watch a livestream Q&A with Tim Miller, David Fincher, and Jennifer Yuh Nelson, too. The event, which will take place on Wednesday, May 10, will be shown at multiple Alamo Drafthouse locations across the US. Those wishing to tune in can do so by signing up via this link.
For more on Love, Death & Robots, read our expert guide on every one of the animated anthology series' 26 episodes to date. We'll be updating it once volume 3 drops, too, so be sure to check back and see if you agree with us on May 20.
Analysis: will Love, Death & Robots volume 3 be the best season yet?
It's possible. The volume 3 teaser trailer suggests that the upcoming batch of episodes will be some of the most intriguing (from a plot perspective) and beautiful we've seen so far. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that they will be. But, with the likes of Mielgo returning, Fincher directing an episode, and each standalone tale tapping into each studio's unique and aesthetically pleasing animation style, we're confident that volume 3 will be the best season yet.
There's data (albeit a small amount) implying that Love, Death & Robots volume 3 could be the best season in the animated show's history, too, based on how volume 2 was better received (by critics) than the first volume was. According to review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the 18-strong first volume holds a 77% rating among critics. Meanwhile, volume 2 – with its eight episodes – is rated even higher; the second instalment accumulating an 85% rating from multiple reviewers.
Take a look at the accumulative scores from general TV aficionados, however, and you may worry about volume 3's chances of maintaining that upward trajectory. Audiences adored the show's first instalment, with its 92% certified fresh score confirming as much. Volume 2, though, received a paltry 57% rating by comparison. It's unclear if Love, Death & Robots' second outing was affected by the lack of episodes it contained (18 in volume 1 compared to 8 in volume 2), or whether its stories simply didn't resonate with viewers.
Whatever the reason, Love, Death & Robots volume 3 could end up splitting critics and fans' opinions on the series more so than its predecessor. Based on what the trailer teased, plus Mielgo and Fincher's involvement in specific episodes, though, we're quietly confident that volume 3 will deliver a season that professional critics and animation fans will equally enjoy.
