Even after its recent two divisive seasons, remains one of the best shows on TV. But approximately 60% of all restaurants fail, and that statistic could engulf The Bear before the release of Season 5. FX's hit culinary drama, starring Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, recently released its fourth season to decent reviews from critics but a much stronger reaction from fans. Ahead of Season 4's release, rumors circulated online that the fourth season would be the last. However, a new report suggests that there might be more to those rumors than fans once thought.

A new report from Variety revealed that the future of The Bear is more uncertain than ever. All 10 episodes of Season 4 are available to stream on Hulu, but it might be the last fans see of Carmy (White), Sydney (Edebiri), and Richie (Moss-Bachrach) for a while. FX hasn't officially renewed the series for a fifth season yet, and there currently aren't any scripts ready for Season 5.

But, the biggest factor working against The Bear's fifth season is the meteoric rise in star power of its cast. Jeremy Allen White has moved from the kitchen to selling out arenas as he's set to play Bruce Springsteen in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Ayo Edebiri is making a strong name for herself as an actress, writer, and a director, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach recently joined the biggest cinematic universe of all-time, the MCU, for Fantastic Four: First Steps, and is set to return as The Thing in several more movies. As a result, getting the staff of The Bear (formerly The Original Beef of Chicagoland) back together for another chaos-filled season is more difficult than it ever was in earlier seasons.

The report is certainly a sour one for fans to swallow. However, amid the negative updates sits a ray of hope. Christopher Storer, the show's creator, might not have the scripts for Season 5 ready to shoot, but the creator has a strong idea of where the series could go in its fifth season. "Christopher Storer has a clear direction in mind should the show move forward," read the report. Again, this is far from confirmation that The Bear Season 5 will make it through to service, but as the rumors about the series coming to an end continue to spread, and the aforementioned issues regarding Season 5's production schedule grow, fans will take all the good news they can get.

If Season 5 is greenlit by FX, expect the new season to make a big change. The Bear has taken note of the workflow of three-star kitchens, the idea that 'consistency is key.' Seasons 1 through 4 have all been released annually in June. Like clockwork, a new season of The Bear has arrived at the start of Summer to get fans' adrenaline spiking. With the scheduling conflicts caused by its cast's growing star power, Season 5 might not make the June 2026 release window, if it makes it to production at all.

Source: Variety