Fan-Favorite Manifest Actor to Return for Final Season After All

By Charlie Ridgely

Fans of Manifest can breathe easier about the show's fourth and final season, as Zeke is officially returning to take part in this last stretch of episodes. There was a concern that the final season of Manifest wouldn't include the fan-favorite character because actor Matt Long was cast in Getaway, a pilot over at NBC, before Netflix struck a deal to deliver the show's final season. NBC ultimately passed on Getaway, leaving Long's schedule open, and he's making his way back to Manifest as the story speeds to a close.

According to TVLine, Manifest creator Jeff Rake has confirmed that Long will return to the series in the final season, "allowing Zeke to complete his Manifest journey as originally intended." Back in September, Long himself suggested that he would be returning in some capacity, saying "I will be back for some of it" during the Creative Arts Emmys.

Rake indicates in his quote that Zeke's ending will be as he "originally intended," which seems to be the case for all of the characters, as well as the series as a whole. The plan was for Manifest to last six seasons. The series is only getting four, but the Netflix season will be 20 episodes in length, which gives the story enough time to get to its planned ending. 

"The endgame won't change at all," Rake told EW earlier this year. "For those who've been tracking this story through June and July, they'll remember that I was hopeful in the early weeks after cancellation that someone would step up and allow us to make something as modest as a two-hour movie." 

"It would have been stressful and would not have been ideal, but I would have figured out my way through it," the creator continued. "Given that I've had to go through the thought exercise this summer of how to get to the original endgame in two episodes, six episodes, or nine episodes, I feel like it's an embarrassment of riches to have to have 20 episodes to tell the rest of the story. So yes, I have always talked about three more seasons — and part of that was chronological, because it's always been my goal get to the series finale in real time in accordance with the five and a half years that the passengers had back — and that might have to adjust somewhat depending on how these episodes roll out. The good news is I am absolutely confident that 20 episodes gives me enough time to tell the entirety of the story as I always intended to. When I've talked in the past about having a roadmap all the way to the end of series, that didn't mean that I had a roadmap for literally every single episode. I have a roadmap with a series of twists and turns and flags in the sand that we would ultimately hit in order to tell the the core stories within our mythology and within our relationship drama. So it will not be a particularly difficult exercise to overlay that same exact roadmap onto 20 episodes. It will be quite organic."

Are you looking forward to the final season of Manifest? Let us know in the comments!

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