The Dark Winds will blow once more. The acclaimed AMC drama series has been renewed for a fourth season. The news comes in advance of the series’ third-season premiere, which will air on AMC on March 9, 2025, and will stream on AMC+ the next day. In further good news for fans of the neo-Western series, the fourth season will also have eight episodes, much like the upcoming third season; the first and second seasons only had six episodes apiece.

The fourth season will also see the directorial debut of series star Zahn McClarnon. McClarnon has had prominent roles on Longmire, Fargo, The Son, and Westworld; he is also an executive producer on Dark Winds. Says McClarnon:

“I’m looking forward to exploring and inhabiting the character of Joe Leaphorn once again in Season 4, and I’m excited to make my directorial debut on a show that means so much to me.”

Season four is set to begin filming on location in New Mexico in March, and will premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2026.

What Is ‘Dark Winds’ About?

Taking place in the Navajo Nation in the 1970s, Dark Winds follows two local lawmen: veteran Joe Leaphorn (McClarnon) and the younger, more cynical Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon, The Twilight Saga). The series also features Jessica Matten (The Empty Man) as Bernadette Manuelito, Leaphorn’s faithful deputy; Deanna Allison (Accused) as Emma Leaphorn, a nurse, and Joe’s wife; and Elva Guerra (Reservation Dogs) as Sally Growing Thunder, a pregnant teenager who Joe and Emma take in. The first season features Leaphorn and Chee investigating a daring, deadly bank robbery perpetrated by an extremist group; the second follows a dangerous cult controlled by a ruthless businessman.

The third season will center around the disappearance of two young boys and the sightings of a fearsome monster. It will feature guest appearances from Jenna Elfman (Dharma & Greg), Bruce Greenwood (The Fall of the House of Usher), Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayans MC), Tonantzin Carmelo (NCIS: Origins), Alex Meraz (Landman), Terry Serpico (Army Wives), Derek Hinkey (American Primeval), Phil Burke (Hell on Wheels), and Christopher Heyerdahl (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters), as well as A Martinez (Longmire) and Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Picard), who will reprise their roles from Season 2.

Dark Winds is adapted from the Leaphorn and Chee novels by the late Tony Hillerman. The series is executive produced by George R.R. Martin, who was a longtime friend of Hillerman’s, and by Robert Redford, who acquired the rights to Hillerman‘s novels decades ago.

Dark Winds has been renewed for a fourth season; the series’ third season will premiere on March 9, 2025, on AMC, and will stream on AMC+ the next day. Season four will film next month, and will premiere in 2026.

via Collider