A recent announcement regarding All American: Homecoming season 3 casting is setting the stage for a very interesting path forward for the show.
From the moment All American: Homecoming season 2 wrapped in the spring, the future of the series has been rather uncertain. For starters, the season ended on March 27 but the powers that be at The CW didn't officially renew the show for season 3 until mid-June. Even with that announcement, which of course was a delight for fans, the network only committed to greenlighting 13 episodes and promised that budget cuts would lead to a casting shakeup.
Then on July 6, Deadline reported the news that sent shockwaves through the show's fanbase. If you haven’t heard, Peyton Alex Smith and Kelly Jenrette, who play Damon and Amara respectively, are not returning to the new season as series regulars but instead will be recurring members of the cast.
Furthermore, Cory Hardrict and Rhoyle Ivy King, who star as Coach Marcus and Nathaniel, will be regulars but have reduced roles. Plus, as of publication, there's no word about if Camille Hyde is even returning as Thea.
Again, the fans have been completely taken aback by the casting developments. They took to social media to express their thoughts, which tend to vary between outrage and utter confusion. Here are just a few tweets we found.
what was the point of renewing #AllAmericanHomecoming then? 🫠 https://t.co/LnsQNmgCRjJuly 7, 2023
We got #AllAmericanHomecoming s3 renewal but at what costs… how you not gonna have your main male lead in most of the season?! Like Damon Sims was the show (along with Simone obviously). Also this has nothing to do with the ship. I’m just confused 😐 pic.twitter.com/jurHCgCHuTJuly 7, 2023
I don’t understand how #AllAmericanHomecoming is going to go down with just Simone, JR, Keisha & Cam. Nate and Coach Marcus got demoted episode countsDamon, Aunt Amara might barely be in it. No clue on Thea & LandoSimone is going to be in College by herself 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/FqHfd70lyCJuly 7, 2023
Yea no that #AllAmericanHomecoming news really irked me….kept all of the characters on All American (knowing Coop should’ve been killed off not Billy) and gave them 6 seasons. However two of the main characters that are important to Simone are not coming back 😒 pic.twitter.com/diFh7H1gkqJuly 7, 2023
How could All American: Homecoming season 3 casting news impact the future of the show?
Just to be clear, the news that Smith, Jenrette, Hardrict and King are having their roles reduced doesn't mean they are leaving the show. But instead, we can expect to see them less frequently in the series.
Out of all the casting changes for season 3, Peyton Alex Smith's is the most surprising. Loyal viewers of All American: Homecoming know he's portrayed series lead Damon from the very beginning. The writers built the character up to be the 'end goal" romantically for Geffri Maya's Simone. Even in the season 2 finale, Simone was left with a choice to declare her love for either Damon or Lando (Martin Bobb-Semple), with the episode ending with a cliffhanger as to her decision.
In light of the news, it’s easy to suspect that Simone may opt not to choose Damon, but Lando. That show writers will change the trajectory of her love story, and continue to push the narrative that Simone and Lando are better suited for one another.
However, we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that Bobb-Semple’s role on the show in season 3 has not been specified. But, he previously was not technically a series regular in season 2. With that said, there's always the chance that Simone chooses neither Damon or Lando, and goes into season 3 single.
Pivoting to Hardrict and Jenrette's decreased future screen time, it seems like we'll be getting less involved in their characters' romance. While season 2 ended with the on-again-off-again couple of Marcus and Amara preparing to enter some more troubled times with the emergence of Marcus' wife, it's possible show writers quickly address that story arc and move on instead of going too far in the weeds.
Lastly, we'll just say that Hyde's status as Thea being in limbo is probably the least surprising of all the casting news. The character was less of a nemesis of Simone's toward the end of last season and Thea was actually turning pro to officially start her tennis career. We can see a show where Simone is given a new antagonist going forward, or perhaps Simone is put at odds with someone else already in the cast.
While we can only be speculative at this point about what all the casting changes mean for the future of the series, like millions of viewers, we'll be tuning in to find out when season 3 debuts.
All American: Homecoming seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Netflix.
