Big Mouth Season 5 - What We Know So Far

Season 4 of Big Mouth just dropped on Netflix, and plenty of viewers have already binged through all ten episodes of the raunchy, controversial series dominating the streaming service. Over the course of the series, we've followed a group of seventh graders as they go through puberty in all its disgusting hilarity. From discovering their sexuality to learning why you shouldn't flirt with your cousin over text, Big Mouth manages to be simultaneously rank among both the most bizarre and most relatable shows Netflix has to offer. 

Luckily, it seems as though the streaming giant has no intention of letting the good times stop any time soon. Back in 2019, Netflix announced it was renewing the show for a fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons, which means if the stars align, we might see the characters enter high school before you know it. 

With at least two more seasons ahead of us, it's never too early to start looking into the future of this very funny series.

Big Mouth has consistently produced new episodes every year since 2017. Season 2 hit Netflix on October 5, 2018, while season 3 arrived a year later on October 4, 2019. Season 4 went through some delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still managed to come out within 14 months, debuting on December 4, 2020. 

If this trajectory offers any insight, it's that we can expect to wait about a year for each new season of Big Mouth, and the creative team behind-the-scenes is already hard at work making season 5 a reality. During an online table read in March 2020, voice actor and series co-creator Nick Kroll addressed his collaborators. "Big Mouth writer's room has been at full throttle," he revealed for the fans tuning in. "I've seen you over Zoom every day for the past two weeks." Considering the timeline of an animated production, it's more than likely the writer's room was working on season 5 episodes at that point, while the animation team was prepping season 4.

While the pandemic pushed things back slightly, animation can work without the same restrictions as live-action — with the right set-up, everything from writing to recording dialogue to animating can be done remotely. It seems we could expect Big Mouth season 5 to be released around December 2021 or January 2022, so keep checking back for updates as they become available. 

Audiences should expect the same voice actors from previous seasons to reprise their roles going into season 5. That means to expect the hilarity of Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Fred Armisen, Maya Rudolph, and Jordan Peele. The biggest change-up in season 4 involved Jenny Slate, who voiced the biracial character Missy, voluntarily stepping down to be replaced by Ayo Edebiri, who in an interview stated that having a Black actress voice a Black character was a "good step on the way to changes that have needed to happen." Edebiri took over for season 4's final two episodes, and can be expected to keep the role for season 5 and onward. 

The fourth season also introduced a crop of new characters, including Maria Bamford as Tito the Anxiety Mosquito, Seth Rogen as Nick's camp friend Seth, and Zach Galifianakis as the Gratitoad. It's possible any of them could return to reprise their roles as the main cast heads into the eighth grade. Seeing how each season seems to deal with a different emotion associated with puberty and growing up (shame, anxiety, etc.), it's safe to say season 5 will bring about another sensation the main cast has to contend with. 

It's too early to say what the overarching theme of Big Mouth season 5 will be, but there are some clues. In a profile on Nick Kroll by The New York Times that was published in December of 2020, the following passage indicates some of the ideas that may percolate in future episodes: "[The writers] had been dispatched on research assignments, each tackling a different topic — cystic acne, female friendship, revenge porn — to see whether it might qualify as a theme for Season 5. They had taken turns presenting their findings to the group; the research was now absorbed and being transformed into story lines."

While all of these could make for good single episodes, none of them really exemplify an overarching theme like what we saw with the Anxiety Mosquitos in season 4. However, a later passage suggests the characters could have to deal with trauma going forward: "Conversation veered from Large Questions (Why does trauma affect people differently? How do you know if your father loves you?) to minor tangents (meatball subs; something called Big Nipple Energy)." It's just a guess, and things could likely still change between now and when season 5 is released, but it would definitely be on par for what we've seen from the show these last few years. 

Regardless of the direction Big Mouth season 5 takes, it's safe to say fans can expect to same blend of vulgar humor and heartwarming sentiment that has defined the series so far.