Don’t be shocked if you catch a glimpse of Coach Ben Scott in the looming “Yellowjackets” Season 4.
While the next season of the beloved thriller has not been announced, Steven Krueger (Coach Ben) exclusively told The Post, “I know in my heart that it’s a thing that’s going to happen,” and he’ll be ready to return to the franchise in any capacity despite his character being killed off in Season 3.
In Episode 6, Coach Ben meets his fate after being tortured by the “Yellowjackets” soccer team, who hold their previous mentor captive and cut his Achilles tendon before he’s shown mercy by teen Natalie (Sophie Thatcher).
After pleading for her to kill him so he’s not executed by the team, Thatcher’s character puts Coach Ben out of his misery by murdering him in a poetic death that was hard for the viewers and the “Yellowjackets” stars to stomach.
While Krueger, 35, told The Post he believed Coach Ben’s mercy kill was “necessary” and a “chain reaction” of what unfolded between the teens next, he’s not counting a possible reappearance out in the future.
“If we’ve seen one thing from the show, we know that just because a character dies [it] is not necessarily the last time you’re going to see their face,” he teased. “So I certainly would not be surprised if if we got some like ghost of Coach Ben stuff, or even a flashback here and there, coming up in the in the future seasons.”
“Yellowjackets” creators, husband and wife duo Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, shared in the past that they pitched a five-season plan for the series. However, there’s been no news about a Season 4 — but Krueger, as well as several of his co-stars, are confident that the show will continue.
“I know in my heart that it’s a thing that’s going to happen,” the actor shared with The Post, adding he believes one of the holdups could be the ongoing merger with Paramount.
“I could not imagine them ending the season – or ending the series with Season 3,” Krueger stated.
When asked if he’d be open to returning to “Yellowjackets,” the star said without a doubt.
“This truly has been the best experience I’ve had in my career. The opportunity to work with the people I’ve gotten to work with and to play this character, who just has so many different levels and so many different layers. It’s been an incredible challenge and so rewarding,” Krueger responded.
“So yeah, of course, I’m game for anything when it comes to showing up in future seasons, and I’m quite sure that there will be future seasons. I don’t know when they’re going to announce them. But yeah, this is certainly not the way that this story is meant to end.”
Coach Ben wasn’t the only shocking murder in Season 3.
Adult Lottie (Simone Kessell) and adult Van (Lauren Ambrose) also lost their lives to fans’ horror.
Lottie was pushed down the stairs by the daughter of adult Shauna (Melanie Lynskey), Callie (Sarah Desjardins), in a plot twist that no one saw coming, and Van — who had been suffering terminal cancer — lost her life when adult Melissa (played by Oscar winner Hilary Swank) showed up out of the blue and stabbed her in the heart.
Krueger isn’t the only one who revealed they’d return to “Yellowjackets” if asked.
Swank previously told The Post that she’d be “open” to the idea of playing Melissa again in the future.
“Yellowjackets” follows a teenage soccer team whose plane crashed in the ’90s, and they were forced to succumb to cannibalism just to survive. Only a few make it home alive.
The thriller jumps between those savage teenage years and their adult present-day selves.
Season 3 of “Yellowjackets” is available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime.
