The Orville: Peter Macon Teases Return for Seth MacFarlane Series

Peter Macon says The Orville is very much "alive" for Seth MacFarlane.

By Nicole Drum

It has been nearly two years since the Season 3 finale of The Orville, and while the show hasn't officially been renewed for a fourth season on Hulu, fans haven't given up hope that there might be more of the Seth MacFarlane-created show to come — and doesn't sound like one of its stars has, either. Speaking with ComicBook.com in support of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Peter Macon spoke about The Orville and how he doesn't think MacFarlane is quite done with the series just yet — and that he himself would love to go back.

"I know he had a lot of fun and I know that he was challenged as an actor to work on The Orville, and I think that was really good for him," Macon said. "And I think he thinks it was really good for him and I know he's really excited about it and you know, like he always says, it's not a dead stick. So, I think that there has been like a lot of rumblings and certainly before the strike there was like, I think we were… I was waiting for a call, but I think there's some retooling and then Ted, but I definitely… I'm not inside his mind but like, just my conversations with him, it's still very much alive in his world and it's up to him. But I certainly would love to go back to it."

MacFarlane himself recently made comments that suggested that things weren't quite over for The Orville yet as well. During an appearance on The Mike Henry Show (via CBR), MacFarlane addressed the situation, saying there "will be more".

"The Orville was a passion project, I say 'was' but I don't really mean 'was' because there will be more," MacFarlane said.

MacFarlane and Scott Grimes both have also previously spoken about how, before the 2023 strikes, a Season 4 seemed very much on the horizon for the series.

"Right before the strike, it feels like we were going to announce a Season 4," Grimes said. "I think it's a better than good possibility that we get to do this again. This is [Seth's] little child, he loves to do The Orville, and it'd be a shame if we didn't get to do one more season. So, I would say that I'm optimistic. That's what I would say."

"I'm trying to remember what the exact, well-worded polite statement was that Hulu put out… All I can say is the same thing that Hulu said, which is the show is not dead. Nobody has told me that it's dead from the network, so we're proceeding under those auspices," MacFarlane said.

What Would Season 4 of The Orville Look Like?

MacFarlane has previously called a potential Season 4 of The Orville a blank slate.

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"It's tough to chart what exactly what a Season 4 would be, because when we started writing Season 3, half the stuff that happened — the shifting of the Alliances, the Kaylon becoming an ally, the Moclans becoming enemies — I never could have predicted. It's just something that came about in the writers room over time. Certainly, we set up threads this year, and most were pretty obvious, that lend themselves to payoffs in a Season 4, but how everything intertwines and evolves and develops…. I don't even know if we're picked up!"

Keep checking back with ComicBook.com for more updates on The Orville and be sure to share your thoughts with us on social media!

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