Outlander Season 3: What We Learned at San Diego Comic-Con

Here’s what we learned about Outlander Season 3 at San Diego Comic-Con

It’s almost time for Outlander Season 3! The Golden Globe-nominated series from Starz will return on Sunday, September 10 at 8PM ET/PT, and we got a chance to attend the panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. Panelists included Ronald D. Moore (executive producer), Maril Davis (executive producer), Diana Gabaldon (author), Caitriona Balfe (Claire Randall Fraser), Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), Tobias Menzies (Black Jack Randall/Frank Randall), Sophie Skelton (Brianna Randall), and Richard Rankin (Roger Wakefield). Fans were also treated to the entire first episode of Outlander Season 3, where we got to see Jamie at Culloden and the aftermath, and the birth of their child back in the modern age.

On the panel, hosted by Jenna Dewan Tatum (World of Dance, Supergirl), we heard from the cast, and watched many of them dance with Tatum. We learned from Moore that this is a pivotal season for the show, with Claire raising her daughter Brianna with Frank, though she still loves Jamie. We also get to see the aftermath of the historical battle and what happens to the country and to Jamie after Scotland loses. He explained that there is also a lot of travel, to the Caribbean and to North America and Fraser’s Ridge. They got to use the Black Sails sets in South Africa, where writer Diana Gabaldon got a chance to visit the set. Davis joked about bringing some of the Scottish crew with them to South Africa, where they promptly turned from white to crimson in the sun. We were told that it takes a bit of time for them to find their way back to each other.

Menzies talked about playing Frank so much this season. He said, “One of the great privileges about doing the show is that we’re deep into our third, fourth year and we’re deep into their [the characters’] world. We start with Season 3 and we get to unpack the life of Claire and Frank in Boston. It’s told in a slightly different way in the book. We get to see that in real time. The writers gave us some great stuff to do.” He said that Frank was a surprisingly complicated character. “Of course,” he said, “Black Jack is really the fun one. He’d be great at a party.”

Heughan spoke about the Battle of Culloden and said that it would be surprising the way that they handled it. “I think it’s maybe not entirely what people will expect from it.”

Rankin spoke about joining the cast. He said, “Obviously I was very fortunate to be in the position to have a lot of material to go off of.” He said he spent a lot of time reading the books and that he knows there is a lot of anticipation for this character. Skelton said she spent a lot of time watching Season 1 and trying to find a mix of the physical characteristics of both Claire and Jamie. She said there were “certain things that Jamie does, furrows his brow and clenches his fist,” that she used. She also used the books as a resource.

Balfe said that, though we saw a little of her after leaving Scotland at the end of Season 2, now we’re seeing her in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. “It was about trying to figure out what her life was like. We [only] see vignettes and you have to build her whole life.” She and Heughan both spoke about the aging process and how it was first about the great hair and makeup teams, but second, it was, as Balfe put it, “interesting to try and figure out how time weighs on a person… how does tragedy weigh on you? How do you deal with grief?”

The third season of Outlander picks up right after Claire (Caitriona Balfe) travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant with Jamie’s (Sam Heughan) child, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies). Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire. As the years pass, Jamie and Claire attempt to make a life apart from one another, each haunted by the memory of their lost love. The budding possibility that Claire can return to Jamie in the past breathes new hope into Claire’s heart… as well as new doubt. Separated by continents and centuries, Claire and Jamie must find their way back to each other. As always, adversity, mystery, and adventure await them on the path to reunion. And the question remains: When they find each other, will they be the same people who parted at the standing stones, all those years ago?

Diana Gabaldon’s eight-book “Outlander” series has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide and all the books have graced the New York Times best-sellers list. The “Outlander” series spans the genres of history, science fiction, romance and adventure in one amazing tale. The second season of Outlander won the Critics’ Choice Award for Most Bingeworthy Show, and four People’s Choice Awards, including Favorite TV Show.

Are you guys excited for Outlander Season 3? We want to hear from you! Leave us your comments below or tweet us @ComingSoonnet, and stay tuned for more news from San Diego Comic-Con 2017!