After a whirlwind of two weeks at Camp Shallow Lake — not to mention a head-spinning, jam-packed, emotional sucker-punch of a finale — it’s time for the cast of High School Musical: The Musical – The Series to return to East High to do it all over again with the show’s most impactful performance yet: its 4th and final season.
It’s senior year for these Wildcats, and just when you thought the show couldn’t get any more meta, the cast of the original High School Musical franchise is returning to East High to film a Disney Plus original, High School Musical 4: The Reunion. They’re not going at it alone, though — our current slate of Wildcats are being recruited to star as extras in the movie.
Somehow, Ricky (Joshua Bassett), Gina (Sofia Wylie), E.J. (Matt Cornett), Carlos (Frankie A. Rodriguez), Ashlyn (Julia Lester), Kourtney (Dara Reneé), and the rest of the cast will have to find a way to juggle a Disney Plus movie, the trials and tribulations of senior year (sans Carlos), the onslaught — and realities — of life after high school, a secret romance, and the production of their very own musical, High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
If you thought season 3 was packed to the brim then buckle up because something tells us it’ll pale in comparison to what we’ll see in season 4. The only question now is when we can watch it all unfold.
When will High School Musical: The Musical – The Series season 4 premiere on Disney Plus?
The final season of High School Musical: The Musical – The Series became a reality when the show finally dropped the season’s official trailer and its accompanying release date. Come August 9 all eight episodes will land on Disney Plus. Yes, you read that correctly — unlike previous seasons, season 4 will drop all eight episodes en masse instead of week by week.
There’s a lot riding on season 4 to deliver a fulfilling conclusion to the series. All eyes will be on Gina and Ricky to see how their love story plays out and what will come of Gina’s love triangle with E.J. We know Gina is tired of living in the shadow of her mother and E.J. so what comes of her story in season 4 will be on her own terms. Series creator Tim Federle said as much when discussing her and Ricky’s relationship with Hollywood Life:
“I think it’s time for Gina’s next moves as a young woman and also as potentially in a relationship with Ricky for it to be on her terms. I think it’s going to be a lot of Gina setting the rules.”
As for Carlos and Seb — everything seemed fine and dandy between the pair in season 3, but Frankie Rodriguez and Joe Serafini planted seeds of doubt when they sang a romantically troubled tune from the new season, “Over Again” at the Junior Theater Festival in January 2023. Our hope is that they make it out of season 4 safe and sound because the musical gods know we can only take one romantic turbulence at a time!
Which cast members are returning in season 4 and which ones are new?
Let’s start with the good news. Disney confirmed that all of our faves — Bassett (Ricky), Wylie (Gina), Lester (Ashlyn), Renée (Kourtney), Rodriguez (Carlos), and Reinders (Miss Jenn) — will continue frolicking through the halls of East High. So, we can breathe a sigh of relief there.
One new storyline that remains notably vague is E.J.’s (Matt Cornett) life after high school. Now that he has graduated, there has been no official word about the status of Cornett’s role in season 4. As of this writing, it’s uncertain whether he will have a series regular role or a recurring one like Olivia Rodrigo’s Nina did in season 3. Federle dampened expectations that we might somehow see E.J. on the East High campus even further when he said:
“What I will caution about expectations is E.J. graduated from high school in every form of that sentence. I think E.J. has got some time to find himself and figure out what he’s doing. He will be around, but I think he will not be back in high school.”
That being said, Federle made it clear that Cornett’s E.J. has not bowed out of the show quite yet. “I don’t think there’s a High School Musical without Matt Cornett,” he said. “He’s an incredible actor. While I know E.J. had a really challenging season, and particularly by the end, was sort of broken by the experience of trying to live up to his toxic father’s expectations, there are definitely more stories to tell with E.J.”
Speaking of recurring roles — expect to see some familiar faces in the form of OG Wildcats such as Lucas Gabriel, KayCee Stroh, Corbin Bleu, Bart Johnson, Monique Coleman, and Alyson Reed.
All we need now is Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens! It just so happens that both actors made cryptic trips to the Salt Lake City school ahead of season 4. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but if there was ever a time for it to happen, it’s in season 4.
As for Olivia Rodrigo – Federle made it clear that the word “never” is not in his vocabulary. While there’s no news of Rodrigo on the cast list for season 4, it wouldn’t be surprising (or better yet, it would) if she made an emotional cameo in the series finale. (Preferably alongside Efron and Hudgens, thank you very much).