Will the Duke Return in Bridgerton Season 3?
Because these rumors persist and a fresh wave of them just hit: Is RJP returning to Bridgerton?
No. At least that's my read and every indication other than a few stray comments from unknown sources and a surprising persistent April Fool's joke is that he will not be back. Every month or so, some publication starts up with this as essentially clickbait, and this round of rumors that have no basis is no different. Let's get a few things clear about these reports.
It's not from RJP or anyone involved in the production. The "sources" report something vague about Page being open to the idea and that he is "in talks" with the creative time. This is ridiculous for so many reasons. For starters, the scripts are already written and in production. They have a direction for the season and a clear plan. No one's screen time is getting changed now in any substantial way and RJP won't have a storyline because one hasn't been written.
Even if he comes back for a cameo, and that would be the only way he could possibly appear, that is highly unlikely as well. It has been a very public split, and with his new film where he is billed right beside A-listers like Ryan Gosling, RJP will have no interest in backtracking. From the perspective of Bridgerton, there is nothing to be gained by bringing him back past a cameo, and even that would start to strain credulity. If there was any consideration for him to have a storyline, they wouldn't be just "in talks" now. That's not how the timeline of production works.
Still more, it would be a mistake on everyone's part to bring him back for a storyline. There is nothing more to say with the Simon and Daphne story, and opening up that can of worms again would be causing an unnecessary mess that had been neatly, if not exactly correctly, tied up at the end of Season 1. He has no reason to be back in Season 3 just as he had no reason to be back in Season 2. His absence was not conspicuous anywhere but at Anthony's wedding, and since there is no undoing that now, there will not be another event that would demand his presence so much. So there is no need for him.
Even though Season 2 shattered the record of Season 1 despite many predictions to the contrary (including my own), the production is very conscious of the large shadow RJP casts. Even though Jonathan Bailey helmed the sophomore season, he did not have the breakout fandom Page had, at least not in the same way. That is not a knock against either leading man, but RJP takes over the headlines simply by being there. Jonathan Bailey is a much better ensemble castmate from a marketing perspective. They do not want any chance of overshadowing the Season 3 leads, nor should they.
And honestly, if people were less rabid about the Duke, if people did not scream and rage that they wouldn't watch the show without him, if they didn't act like his return would be the second coming, we might actually get him back. But in an interesting irony, it is the very mania of wanting him back that fans express that will prevent them from getting just that.
