What will Survivor 50 be about? That's the big question!
Although Survivor 47 is now in full swing, Survivor fans can't stop thinking about Survivor 50. Next year, Jeff Probst and the gang will start filming the biggest season in Survivor history, and we still don't know what it will be about.
Everyone who follows Survivor has an opinion about what the theme for Survivor 50 will be. We know it's going to be different than the new era seasons. Jeff Probst revealed in the spring of 2024 that the new season will be returning players. It'll be the first time since Survivor: Winners at War (season 40) that returning players will play Survivor.
So, where does the show go from here? This fall, Jeff revealed to Variety that the team had narrowed the possible cast to 100 former players. Clearly, they already have a theme in mind, but we still don't know what it's going to be.
We shared three possible themes for Survivor 50 that could be really interesting!
Runner-ups and Finalists
Survivor 50: Runner-Ups and Finalists, can you imagine it? We just did Winners at War for season 40. Now, wouldn't it be great to bring back the players who were literally to winning $1 million? This is my favorite idea of the bunch!
There are so many incredible Survivor players who just missed out on $1 million and the title of Sole Survivor. Who would be eligible? Every player who made it to final tribal and lost, that's who!
Some have already played before, but it would be great to see them return. Yes, some would be seen as bigger threats than others, but if you made it 39 days in the old era or 26 days in the new era, you are a threat to win the game.
I would love to see these players return for Survivor 50:
- Aubry Bracco
- Charlie Davis
- Gavin Whitson
- Russell Hantz
- Coach
- Stephen Fishbach
- Amanda Kimmel
- Dom Abbatte
- Hannah Shapiro
- Ozzie Lusth
- Woo Hwang
- Dean Kowalski
- Xander Clark
I'm sure there are other runner-ups and finalists I'm forgetting, but it would be great to see these first-losers and second-losers complete. Someone would become a winner, and someone would be runner-up for the second or third time. It would be glorious and painful and fun.
Outwit vs. Outplay vs. Outlast
Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. That's what Survivor has been about for 47 seasons so far, and what it will continue to be about through Survivor 50 and beyond.
I haven't seen this idea online yet, but it might be out there! Basically, in this scenario, Jeff and the producers would choose 6-8 best Survivor players in each category. For Outwit, you're taking the top strategic thinkers. For Outplay, you're taking the best and strongest physical players, the ones who were winning the challenges for their tribes and themselves. Then, for Outlast, you're taking the top social players, those who were invaluable to camp life, and the players that everyone loves.
To me, this would be such a good way to cap off 50 seasons of Survivor. It would be so fun to see the players adapt against the best of the best. There would be no weak links, but there would be weaknesses. Yes, we've seen players who are great in all facets of the game, but the best social players might not be great challenge players or strategic threats. How many times have we seen the strongest physical players struggle with strategy and the social aspects of the game? And, most importantly, how many times have we seen brilliant strategy, epic blindsides, and game-changing moves beaten at the end because of that lack of social connection? It would be riveting to see how this kind of season plays out.
Game Changers 2
I feel like this might be the most likely scenario for Survivor 50! They might not call it "Game Changers" or "Game Changers 2". The 34th season of the series is also called Game Changers. Survivor 50 might be something "Icons" or something different, but it's going to be the most popular and influential players in Survivor history. And, that'd be awesome!
I think that's probably what most Survivor fans are expecting. We just had Winners at War, so it's possible that a lot of those winners get left out and replaced with the most legendary cast members in Survivor history, assuming those players want to play again.
If that's the way this goes, I don't know how you do Survivor 50 without Boston Rob, Tony Vlachos, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Cirie Fields, and all of the other incredible players. The risk you run is that we've already seen many of these players play against each other and sometimes multiple times, like in Heroes vs. Villains, Game Changers, Winners at War, etc.
Ultimately, I do think this is what happens with Jeff and the gang doing their best to nail casting and make sure that this is one epic season of Survivor!
We'll likely learn a lot more about Survivor 50 in the next few months, but we won't see Survivor 50 until 2026 on CBS. Stay tuned for more information about the new seasons of Survivor!