Paul Zbyszewski takes the helm as the showrunner of Snowpiercer season 4. The 10-episode final season of Snowpiercer premieres July 21st on AMC+, with all 3 prior seasons also streaming on AMC+.

Snowpiercer season 4 picks up months after Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) led his followers to New Eden and a difficult like living outside the train in one of the frozen Earth’s warm spots. Meanwhile, Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) remains the head engineer of Snowpiercer, which is facing existential challenges. Both Snowpiercer and New Eden are threatened by new survivors led by Admiral Milius (Clark Gregg), who has mysterious plans for the Great Ark Train. And what happened to Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) after he was banished from Snowpiercer?

Screen Rant had the pleasure of chatting with Paul Zbyszewski about concluding Snowpiercer‘s story, filming both inside the train and outside, Clark Gregg’s new villain character, and his plans to conclude Snowpiercer’s revolutions in season 4.

Why Snowpiecer Moved From TNT To AMC+

Screen Rant: Season four is the final season of Snowpiercer. To start off, I want to touch a bit on what happened with TNT and how Snowpiercer was finally picked up by AMC+. What happened from your perspective as executive producer and showrunner?

Paul Zbyszewski: Um, corporate life? I mean, yeah, a decision was made that obviously came from very, very on high that we had no control over. We’re incredibly disappointed by it. And I felt awful for everyone who put time and energy into season four. The cast, the crew who spent nights and days and weekends away from their families, and had basically nothing to show for it. And so, I was really bummed out.

But here on the other side of it, I’m just incredibly grateful that AMC came along and saved the show, not just season four, but they took the whole series, which is great. It deserves to be seen and the seasons prior to season four deserve to be seen. Graeme [Mason] and Aubrey [Nealon] did some terrific work, and I’m just very pleased and very grateful that it all worked out.

Absolutely. When you took over a show, did you know season four was the final season?

Paul Zbyszewski: We were talking about it. It wasn’t sort of set in stone. There was always like, ‘Well, maybe at the end, there could be a little window potentially to carry on.; But our intention was always to come up with a finale and have it potentially be the end of the series. And before we ever got to that place, we knew that it was kind of going to be that.

Details Of Writing & Filming Snowpiercer Season 4

Taking over as showrunner, you literally inherited a train set. The biggest and greatest train set. Laying out the story for Snowpiercer season 4, what were the big beats that were important for you to hit, especially if you’re aiming to finish Snowpiercer‘s story?

Paul Zbyszewski: You know, it’s interesting. There are folks who come at story with a premise like, ‘We have to get here and we have to get there.’ And for us, it was really in the writers’ room. We just talked about story and character arcs and emotion. What are the journeys that we want to go on? And where do we want these people to land in terms of in relation to each other as people? Forget about whether they’re going to nd with the train flying off a cliff, or they’re all going to end up in New Eden or a bomb’s going to explode and kill everybody.

What’s satisfying for each of these characters, and for fans of the show? For those following Layton and Melanie, for those who have been following Wilford and were infuriated by his machinations… What would be satisfying? What would be satisfying to the audience? So we started with character, and we really end with character. That’s what it’s about.

Snowpiercer‘s prior seasons were mainly shot in interior sets. There was some exterior stuff with one or two characters here and there. But New Eden and being able to film outdoors really opens up the show. What was that like now for the cast and crew to be able to be outside?

Paul Zbyszewski: Stunning. It was definitely a challenge. You’re talking about a show that, again, was almost completely on stage. And so there’s a rhythm and a pattern of familiarity of that. And then to take the cast and crew over to a set that was being built with actual gigantic train cars, there was certainly a sense of awe. It’s like, ‘Look, oh my gosh, we can actually walk left and right instead of just forward and back.’ There’s that big open space and sky. There is a reality that comes with it that’s tangible. We can touch the outsides of these trains. I think everyone was thrilled about it.

But with that also came challenges; weather, shooting in heat and cold and rain. Building these massive sets was a huge challenge. Logistically, I know, for our line producers, our soldiers who really kind of are the logistics masters, it definitely kept them up at night. It was hard. But I think the end result was worth it. And everybody was really thrilled with how it looked. I mean, you’ve seen the first five episodes. So you tell me, how did it look to you?

Amazing. It’s a whole different dimension to the show being outside. And as you said, seeing the exterior of the trains, and it’s not CGI, you can now touch it. It really adds something tangible to the show.

Paul Zbyszewski: Yeah, we were thrilled with the results. Stephen Geaghan, who’s our production designer, and Roger Trory, our set decorator, they just did outstanding work. I mean, we really threw a ton of challenges at them and said, ‘Okay, here’s what we’re doing. We’re building a Western pioneer town, and we want to see these things.’ And they just went above and beyond anything I actually imagined. I imagined it much smaller. And I will say, Christophe had a huge hand in that as well. Christoph Schrewe, our producing director and executive producer, he had a vision, and he saw it through and really added scope and scale to the show that I don’t think we’d seen in the previous three seasons in terms of practical sets.

Why Jennifer Connelly’s Melanie Cavill Isn’t In Every Snowpiercer Episode

Snowpiercer also has an amazing cast, led by Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs. Jennifer was in every episode of season one. And then afterward, there are many episodes where Melanie doesn’t appear, although she’s always talked about. Is that a scheduling thing? Or is that driven by the needs of the story?

Paul Zbyszewski: It’s a little of both. Jennifer’s obviously a very in-demand actress. We’re very grateful for any time that she gave us. And so, we tried to write her in as much as possible and as much as her schedule can accommodate. But really, it was about character first. We had extensive conversations before the season began about what her story would be and what her arc would be. And she was like, ‘Okay, I’m in,’ and we were just thrilled to have her. Because she’ really one of the best in the business. To have her and Daveed and Sean, headlining the show. Honestly, one of the reasons why I wanted to come aboard was the opportunity to work with such incredibly talented actors.

Clark Gregg Joins Snowpiercer As Season 4’s New Villain

It’s an incredible cast from top to bottom. You have new actors in season 4, like Clark Gregg, the new villain. I know you worked on Agents of SHIELD, and I was a massive fan of that show. And I remember evil Coulson from season 6. I get those vibes from Clark in Snowpiercer, but I also get the humanity that Clark’s bringing to it. Tell me a little bit about Clark in season 4, what his character’s role is, and his overall story.

Paul Zbyszewski:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ He’s a new force of antagonism to the train. He brings a different flavor than Wilford. He brings a different flavor than any of the characters that we’ve seen so far. And we needed that. A lot of the conflict at the end of season three was sort of resolved amongst the family. And so, a presence of a real kind of governmental authority, something that was structured and military, was something a little bit different. I guess the closest thing on the train was the Jackboots, but this was another level.

And definitely, there were shades of Sarge, the evil Coulson, in Clark’s character, Admiral Milius. But I just wanted to work with him again. We had a terrific relationship. And when we were creating this character, we were talking to the studio and the network about who could fill this role. Clark was top of my mind, and he was just gracious enough to want to come play. I mean, he’s a joy to work with. He’s incredibly talented. I knew he could do the full range of everything that we were going to ask of that character. His story in the show is more than just threadbare. There are real emotional underpinnings to what he’s doing and why. And I knew Clark could just crush it. I knew he’d knock it out of the park. And I think he did. I mean, I’m hoping you’re enjoying his performance.

Absolutely. And the thing is, as you mentioned, after being mentally immersed in that train and living in that world for those first three seasons, I was struck by how Clark and its soldiers coming aboard felt like such an invasion. Such a foreign thing coming onto our train.

Paul Zbyszewski: Yeah, that was intentional. I mean, who are these people, and what do they think they’re doing with our train? That was definitely what we wanted, in the sense that the train has become part of the fan base. They love the train. So if someone else from the outside is coming in to co-opt it, you can bet that’s going to piss people off.

Ending Snowpiercer’s Ride In Season 4

This is the final ride, as you dock the train in the station, as it were. What do you hope audiences take away from Snowpiercer season 4 and also from the grand story the show told?

Paul Zbyszewski: ​​​​​​​ Something we’ve been talking about, we had since the beginning, is the show originated as an adaptation of a French graphic novel. And if you read the graphic novels, there is that classic sense of cynicism and darkness that you find in all kinds of dystopian stories. But the thing that you take away at the very end of Snowpiercer is there’s always a sliver of hope. Even in the darkest of times, even when people have given up, even on themselves, you can’t forget that there is still that sliver of hope. If you look for it, and if you fight for it. And so, I hope that that is a sentiment and a feeling that people take away from the final episodes.

About Snowpiercer Season 4

Nine months after Snowpiercer and Big Alice parted ways, Till and Ben encounter unforeseen enemies when Melanie sends them off the train on a reconnaissance mission. Meanwhile, the residents of New Eden face uncertain times and unknown adversaries, compelling them to further confront the complexities of their new reality.