When Netflix has a big show releasing, it makes sure to advertise it loads, especially in its blog Tudum. One exception seems to be its best sci-fi show Love, Death & Robots, which according to its creator could be back in the next month!
Love, Death & Robots is an animated anthology show, with each episode using a different animation style to tell a sci-fi story loosely based around love, death, or robots (usually the middle one!).
Before you roll your eyes up at the "animated" part of that description: while your apprehension may be justified given how much forgettable animated content Netflix churns out, LD&R is really good. It was created by Deadpool's Tim Miller and many different animation studios contributed episodes, with the range of styles and creative voices telling some wonderfully diverse stories.
After Volume I in 2019, Volume II in 2021 and Volume III in 2022, LD&R was renewed for a fourth season in August 2022... but we've heard no news from Netflix about when it could come out. However, in early January 2025, Miller gave a cryptic tease in an interview that it could be out soon.
Speaking to The Direct, Miller said "if you look at when we traditionally released the show, you might have some clues". Bearing in mind that the first season was out in March 2019, that implies Volume IV could also be released in March, but of 2025 (or, I suppose, 2026, but it seems unlikely that Miller would be talking about any kind of release window if the show was over a year away).
It's admittedly not much to go on, but it's certainly better than nothing as we endure the longest doldrums yet in the eclectic release pattern of the show. It's a little flicker of hope in a slow February (for streaming releases, at least) that the show could be back within a month.
One thing to bear in mind is that Miller is coming hot off a different animated anthology show: Secret Level, which released on Prime Video in December 2024, and could have distracted him from his Netflix show. This series told stories set in various video game franchises, but it wasn't received anywhere nearly as well as Love, Death & Robots was.
Beyond its potential release window, and that the show will be "awesome" according to Miller, we don't know much about Love, Death & Robots Volume IV. We don't know how many episodes it'll have, which animation studios have contributed, which famous actors will contribute their voices, or if any known directors have created episodes.
I'd love to see a return of Volume I's episodical shuffle: different viewers were presented the shorts in different orders, and it was interesting to see how your interpretation of the entire run was colored by the order you saw it in. Volume II and III had half as many episodes each, at only 8 and 9 respectively, and were presented in the same order to everyone.
If you're new to Love, Death & Robots, you'll be glad to know that you don't have to watch all 35 episodes in order to enjoy the new season; they're all standalones, save for season 3's 'Three Robots: Exit Strategies' which returns some characters from season 1 (even though you don't need to have seen the previous episode).
There are a few episodes that you should watch anyway though; 'Zima Blue,' 'Sonnie's Edge' and 'Good Hunting' from season 1, 'Pop Squad' and 'The Drowned Giant' from season 2 and 'Bad Travelling' (directed by David Fincher), 'Mason's Rats' and 'Jibaro' from season 3 are collectively the best of the bunch.
We'll update you if Love, Death & Robots Volume IV gets a release date any time soon.
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