Everything to Know About Dark Winds Season 4, Including What the Next Case Will Be About

Season 3 of the AMC thriller was added to Netflix in October 2025

Jessica Matten, Kiowa Gordon and Zahn McClarnon in “Dark Winds”.Credit : 

Michael Moriatis/AMC

NEED TO KNOW

Dark Winds is based on author Tony Hillerman’s book series Leaphorn & Chee
In February 2025, AMC announced that Dark Winds was renewed for season 4
The thriller’s showrunner has shared what the next episodes will be about

Dark Winds is about to blow back around like a tousled tumbleweed.

The third season of the hit AMC show was recently added to Netflix in October 2025. Viewers looking for more adventures featuring Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) are in luck because the Navajo detective thriller has already been renewed for a fourth season.

Dark Winds is based on the series of Leaphorn & Chee novels by Tony Hillerman. The author has written 18 books about the Navajo Tribal Police duo, providing an abundance of source material to draw from as the action-drama continues.

Season 3 of the series followed Leaphorn and Chee as they investigated a double murder case, while Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) was far from home, uncovering a smuggling operation.

Here’s everything to know about Dark Winds season 4, including the release date, cast and teaser trailer.

Will there be a season 4 of Dark Winds?

Kiowa Gordon in “Dark Winds”.Michael Moriatis/AMC

Yes, AMC renewed Dark Winds for a fourth season in February 2025, ahead of the season 3 premiere in March 2025.

“When we greenlit the first season of Dark Winds, we saw the potential for an authentic and long-running franchise that could live alongside the worlds we were building around The Walking Dead and Anne Rice,” Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks, said in a statement.

“That is exactly what this cast and creative team delivered, and … fans have embraced this series on AMC/AMC+ and made it a top 10 show on Netflix for a solid month last fall,” he continued. “There is so much great storytelling yet to come in these expanded third and fourth seasons.”

When will Dark Winds season 4 premiere?

Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn, Kiowa Gordon as Jim Chee in ‘Dark Winds’.Michael Moriatis/Stalwart Productions/AMC

According to Deadline, Dark Winds season 4 is scheduled to premiere on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026.

Season 4 will consist of eight episodes, matching the number in the third installment. Seasons 1 and 2 each had six episodes.

What will Dark Winds season 4 be about?

Zahn McClarnon in “Dark Winds”.Michael Moriatis/AMC

The first two seasons of Dark Winds were each based on a book in the Leaphorn & Chee series. Season 1 drew from Listening Woman and season 2 from People of Darkness. Meanwhile, season 3 pulled from two stories, Dance Hall of the Dead and Sinister Pig, per TV Insider.

In an April 2025 TV Insider interview, Dark Winds showrunner John Wirth revealed that the fourth season will be based on Hillerman’s book, The Ghostway.

“It deals with the Navajo experience of ghost sickness, which has to do with what happens to a person, in their tradition, if they are exposed to a dead body or if they’re with a person when the person dies,” he explained.

Wirth continued, “My understanding is if you are with a person when they breathe their last breath, that breath goes into you and you become ghost sick, which requires a ceremony to cure you of ghost sickness.”

According to the showrunner, the upcoming season will temporarily relocate the Southwest to the West Coast, with three episodes set in 1970s Los Angeles.

“Every season I try to look at a different aspect of the White world and how it interfaces with the reservation,” he said. “It could be a border town — not the border with the United States and Mexico, but with the Navajo Nation. In this case, it’s Los Angeles.”

Who will be in the Dark Winds season 4 cast?

Deanna Allison as Emma Leaphorn and Elva Guerra as Sally Growing Thunder in ‘Dark Winds’.Michael Moriatis/AMC

McClarnon is returning to reprise his role as Leaphorn, and he will also be sitting in the director’s chair for the first time on the series.

“I’m looking forward to exploring and inhabiting the character of Joe Leaphorn once again in Season 4, and I’m excited to make my directorial debut on a show that means so much to me,” the actor said in a statement when Dark Winds was renewed for season 4.

McClarnon and Gordon are back, and so is Jessica Matten, who plays Bernadette Manuelito. Deanna Allison is also returning as Leaphorn’s wife, Emma, as is A Martinez, who played Sheriff Gordo Sena in seasons 2 and 3.

According to Variety, season 4 will feature new cast members, including Franka Potente, Isabel DeRoy-Olson, Chaske Spencer, Luke Barnett and Titus Welliver.

Notably, Barnett will play an FBI special agent named Toby Shaw.

Does Dark Winds season 4 have a trailer?

Jessica Matten as Sgt. Bernadette Manuelito in ‘Dark Winds’.Michael Moriatis/AMC

While there is no official trailer for Dark Winds season 4 yet, a teaser was released on Oct. 23.

The 45-second clip titled “The Price of the Badge” shows Leaphorn speaking to Bernadette about his career.

“I had this badge for four years before I saw my first murder. Now it seems like every day,” he says as intense scenes flash across the screen. “It’s hard having to hold it all. I’m sorry I’m asking you to.”

Where can I watch Dark Winds?

Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn in ‘Dark Winds’.Michael Moriatis/AMC

The first three seasons of Dark Winds are available to stream on AMC+ and Netflix.