After a nearly four-year wait, the third season of Euphoria is less than two weeks away. Now, a brand-new trailer for the HBO drama, which dropped on Monday, proves just how much things have changed for Zendaya’s Rue and her former high school peers.

Euphoria was HBO’s very first YA drama: a scandalous blend of drugs, sex and one very meta theater production. Now, the Euphoria cast is out of high school and thrust into the real world — one that includes OnlyFans, marital woes and drug muling.

The more mature material makes sense for the show’s cast, some of whom used the show as a career launchpad: Emmy-winner Zendaya is churning out blockbusters on the regular, Jacob Elordi was just nominated for an Academy Award and (often controversial) two-time Emmy nominee Sydney Sweeney has broken box office records as an actress and producer.

In the years between seasons, Euphoria also saw loss: Angus Cloud, who played Fez, died of a drug overdose in 2023. And Eric Dane died in February, less than a year after going public with his ALS diagnosis. He will make his final appearance as Cal this season.

With Euphoria’s third season on the horizon, here’s a breakdown of the latest trailer.

Rue is in hot water with drug dealers…again 

After getting tangled up with drug dealer Laurie (Martha Kelly), by the end of Season 2, Rue was no longer using drugs. But the trailer for the new season shows Rue even deeper into the drug game, with DEA agents interviewing her about whether she’s ever been to Mexico. Cut to Rue swallowing what appear to be plastic-wrapped balls of drugs, presumably so she can take them across the border.

However, there’s a hint that Rue might be trying to find a way out by working with the feds — something that, no doubt, will cause major drama for Zendaya’s character this season. “I can tell you’re a good kid in a bad situation,” one of the DEA agents says as a single tear falls down Rue’s cheek.

Alas, it sounds like Laurie’s not out of the picture, either. “What happened to you?” we hear Laurie say in the trailer. “Alamo tried to kill me,” a beat-up-looking Rue says. “And he’s going to do the same to you.”

Who is Alamo? It’s possible that he’s the drug dealer played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who is seen in the trailer wearing a cowboy hat and putting bullets into a gold gun.

He’s not the only shadowy figure to worry about. The trailer also hints at a new character, played by Darrell Britt-Gibson, who is seen wearing an American Psycho-style plastic raincoat and holding a bloody electric carving knife over a screaming, duct-taped man.

Ali is back — and there’s reason to worry

One person who serves as a guiding light for Rue is her sponsor, Ali, played by Colman Domingo. Ali offers her some words of wisdom, and a stern warning about the path she’s headed down. “The real disease is that people no longer know the difference between right and wrong,” he says. “You poison kids for money…you’re evil.”

The trailer suggests that Ali may be dealing with a medical issue this season when it cuts to a shot of him receiving oxygen in a hospital bed.

Cassie and Nate get married, and no one’s happy

Sweeney’s Cassie and Elordi’s Nate had the most tumultuous relationship of Season 2, as they were hooking up behind the back of Maddy (Alexa Demie), Cassie’s best friend and Nate’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. The trailer shows that the two aren’t only still together — they’re getting married. But as Nate smirks at the altar, Cassie looks miserable walking down the aisle with her mom (Alanna Ubach). So much for how she’s never, ever been happier.

Maddy and Cassie reconnect 

The one-time besties were at each other’s throats in the Season 2 finale, but they’re hanging out again, with Maddy helping Cassie shoot for her OnlyFans account. When Cassie tells Nate about her reconnecting with his ex, he says exactly what you don’t want to hear from your husband: “My Maddy?”

Exactly what Maddy wants with Cassie is unclear, but we later see Maddy at what appears to be a strip club with Rosalía — a newcomer to the cast, who is wearing a bejeweled neckbrace in the teaser. The singer and actress was previously seen in an earlier trailer on stage dancing at a club called the Silver Slipper.

Jules and Cal meet up 

The new season shows Jules (Hunter Schafer) as an art student who moonlights as a sugar baby — a job that, seemingly, allows her to reconnect with Cal, Nate’s father. In the first season of the show, Cal and Jules had sex while Jules was underage, leading to Cal’s arrest at the end of Season 2. Here, though, Cal appears to be out of jail, and in seemingly good spirits. “Remember me?” Jules asks Cal, who is wearing a gray suit. Cal replies, “How could I forget?”

Dane returned to Euphoria shortly after announcing his ALS diagnosis in April 2025. In his statement to People, the former Grey’s Anatomy star said that he felt “fortunate” to return to the set.

Lexi is thriving

Lexi (Maude Apatow) is, once again, in a vastly different TV show from her peers. She’s working for a producer, played by Sharon Stone, who tells Lexi that the network really loved the storyline she pitched for the series they’re working on.

In the trailer, she also calls out her childhood best friend Rue for using drugs again and, in a conversation with Rue and Maddy later on, says what we’re all usually thinking when we watch the Euphoria gang: “What is wrong with you people?!”

Euphoria Season 3 premieres on Apr 12, 2026.