Cast, Story & Latest News

Netflix’s Monster anthology series, created by Ryan Murphy, has released three seasons, and a fourth is coming. Producer Ryan Murphy has perfected the anthology format with the shows American Horror Story and American Crime Story. However, the Monster series has quickly become one of the most popular and controversial.
The third season has followed the pattern of the past two, with the reviews of Monster: The Ed Gein Story being heavily divided. Critics decry the episodes as unnecessarily grotesque and sensational. Despite the negative response to the first two seasons, Netflix renewed the show for season 4 before season 3 was even released.
The next season will go even further back in time than any of the past seasons, following the notorious alleged murderer Lizzie Borden, who was actually acquitted. Here are all the details we know about Monster season 4.
Latest News About Monster Season 4
What’s On Netflix has provided an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse of Monster season 4. Since Monster season 3 was a hit, the most exciting news is that they’ve provided photos of Charlie Hunnam, who played Ed Gein in season 3 and will play Andrew Borden in season 4, in a long brown robe and grown-out curly hair.
Additionally, Ella Beatty, who plays Lizzie Borden, is shown in a long pink and white dress with a flower crown. Vicky Krieps, who plays Ilse Koch in season 3 and the maid Bridget Sullivan in season 4, is shown walking with Beatty in one photo.
Monster Season 4 Is Confirmed
Despite the continual controversy that has come with every season, Monster is one of Ryan Murphy’s most popular series, so it’s no surprise that Netflix renewed the true crime series for season 4 before season 3 even released. The outrage still makes them money.
At the time of the renewal, they also shared that the subject would be Lizzie Borden, who was acquitted for the murders of her father and stepfather in 1893, despite the prevailing belief that she committed them. This is the first female “Monster” to join the series.
Because the murders took place on August 4, 1892, this season of Monster is the least likely to cause controversy. Everyone involved in the crime or directly impacted is deceased. That being said, there is very little concrete information about the motivation or actual crimes, leaving room for unnecessary creative liberties.
Monster Season 4’s Production Status
On Thursday, October 9, 2025, Monster season 4 started filming in Los Angeles, according to Deadline. Based on the filming schedule of past seasons, this will likely stretch into early 2026. If they wrap in Spring 2026, the fourth season of the hit series is projected to release in Fall 2026.
Monster Season 4’s Cast
The biggest roles in Monster season 4 have already been cast. Ella Beatty, an up-and-coming actor with few previous roles, will play Lizzie Borden. Billie Lourd will play Bordon’s sister, Emma. Rebecca Hall will play Abby Borden, the stepmother who gets murdered.
Jessica Barden will play Nance O’Neill, a real-life actor who was a brief acquaintance of Borden. The two quickly garnered rumors of a lesbian romance (via University of Michigan Press), which is not the first time Lizzie Borden was rumored to be in a lesbian romance.
Additionally, Monster will break a series tradition by focusing on a woman and bringing back previous actors. While it’s common for Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story and American Crime Story to reuse actors in different roles, Monster has not taken this approach until season 4. At least two cast members from Monster season 3 will return in the fourth installment.
Charlie Hunnam will play the alleged murderer’s father, who is brutally killed with an axe. Additionally, Vicky Krieps will play the Bordens’ maid, Bridget Sullivan. Depending on the motive theory they use for the murders, Bridget could be a big part of the season.
Monster Season 4’s Story Details
Even people unfamiliar with the Lizzie Borden case may have heard the name, as she has been mythologized by a childhood rhyme that’s used in handclaps and jump rope. The morbid school-year rhyme goes like this:
“Lizzie Borden took an ax
Gave her mother 40 whacks
When she saw what she had done
She gave her father forty-one.”
In real life, Lizzie Borden is a woman who may or may not have killed her father and stepmother with an axe. According to Britannica, the two were found murdered, with Abby, Lizzie’s stepmother, getting hit 18 times, and Andrew, Lizzie’s father, being struck 11 times. Lizzie was the prime suspect.
Most of the evidence was deemed inadmissible, providing jurors with an incomplete picture. The evidence used in the trial was almost exclusively circumstantial, which contributed to her acquittal. After being found not guilty, she was ostracized for the rest of her life.