‘Overlord’ Season 4 Air Date, Spoilers, Characters: Why Fourth Installment Could Be Delayed Until 2021

There’s still no confirmation if “Overlord” Season 4 will be happening this year. Part of the reason why Madhouse studio is being quiet about the matter is due to how big the next installment will be.

So far, Madhouse has followed the formula of adapting three books in a single season. But given that the next story will not fit in 13 episodes, the studio is left with a difficult choice. Either they cut out a lot of content from its source material to fit into “Overlord” Season 4 or make the fourth installment into a two cour entry, MonsterAndCritics reported.

While the second option may be the fitting choice, Madhouse will need to stretch the storyline to accommodate 24 episodes. Of course, the studio could rely on filler plot points but that would be doing the fans and series a disservice. But there is a third choice that the studio can opt to apply on “Overlord” Season 4.

Going by Madhouse’s habit of adapting three books per entry, they could simply wait for Volume 15 to come out. “Overlord” Season 4 can then be made as a two-cour installment with 24 episodes that covers Volume 10 to 15 – six books in total.

The problem is that Volume 15 hasn’t come out yet and there’s no telling when it will be finished. So at the earliest, “Overlord” Season 4 could come out in 2019 if Madhouse decides to cram a large storyline in 13 episodes. At the latest, the studio could wait until 2021 and release a two-cour entry that will cover six volumes of its original source.

While both options will undoubtedly upset fans, there’s a silver lining to all of this coming in the form of more action-oriented storylines. “Overlord” Season 4 is expected have an even bigger war than what fans have seen so far.

As for those who are worried that author Kugane Maruyama will drag the story similar to what others have done, he assures that he will not be doing such a thing. This is despite the author previously saying that he has 50 more volumes worth of ideas that he’s playing with. As such, fans can expect that the overarching plot injected in “Overlord” Season 4 will hint at how Ainz Ooal Gown’s story will come to an end.