Hacks Cast Tease ‘Awesome’ Musician Cameo, ‘New Mission’ for Season 3

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The cast of Hacks is dishing on the upcoming season of the HBO hit, describing it a “new frontier” for the show.

Series co-creator Paul W. Downs and star Hannah Einbinder spilled the beans in Vegas over the weekend during the “Verizon Presents Max: Hacks Watch Party,” part of the telecom brand’s “Verizon Live” activation at the Super Bowl.

The two were joined by Verizon executives, customers, fans and guests like Wilmer Valderrama, Karreuche Tran, Joey Fatone and Colton Underwood for the event, which featured clips from season two of Hacks, along with exclusive details about season three (premiering on Max this spring).

After a poignant ending to season two, Downs says the new season picks up a year later, with Jean Smart’s Deborah and Einbinder’s Ava navigating their professional and personal lives without each other. “It’s really a new frontier,” says Downs. “Even though they’re both doing really well individually, there’s an uneasiness and unfulfilled part of their life without the other, so we get to explore what that means.”

But this doesn’t mean fans have seen the last of the dynamic duo. “Ava and Deborah do find their way back [to each other],” Einbinder concedes, “and they have a new mission, a new job on the horizon and new things to work towards.”

While Hacks has featured cameos from the likes of Wayne Newton and Margaret Cho in the past, Einbinder teases a big musical surprise for season three: “We have a really awesome musician doing a cover of an iconic song,” she reveals. “But I don’t know if I can say more than that.”

As for her own musical tastes? “I will be honest with you — I’m trying to work on my self-esteem,” Einbinder jests, “so I’ve been playing ‘Conceited’ by Remy Ma on my way to work, and just really singing it.”

The Hacks panel was just one of a number of ways that Verizon was on the scene at this year’s Super Bowl (ahem, that big Super Bowl commercial). The IRL activations took place at the Jimmy Kimmel Comedy Club and began with the “@NetflixGeeked Kickoff event” on Thursday night, which featured cast members and filmmakers from the upcoming Netflix releases Avatar: The Last Airbender, 3 Body Problem, and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver.

Friday featured a chat between Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and ESPN’s Mina Kimes, along with two-time Super Bowl champ Eli Manning and LA Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, to “highlight the power of Verizon’s network both in stadiums and in the communities where fans live, work and play.” Verizon also talked up its first season of coach-to-coach communication — a private wireless network coaches use to call plays during the game — which made its first-ever Super Bowl appearance in Las Vegas.

The events concluded on Saturday with “Run the Playlist Live,” which brought together NFL players, fans and Anderson .Paak (as DJ Pee Wee) to curate a live playlist for the “ultimate Super Bowl LVIII pregame party.” Guest also enjoyed an intimate performance from Tobe Nwigwe, who most recently lit up the stage with Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live.

The Verizon events served to not only hype up fans for the big game, but also to promote their exclusive Verizon bundles, which give customers a chance to add Netflix and Max to their phone plan for just $10 a month, or Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, along with Netflix and Max for just $20 per month. See full bundle plans here.

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

The cast of Hacks is dishing on the upcoming season of the HBO hit, describing it a “new frontier” for the show.

Series co-creator Paul W. Downs and star Hannah Einbinder spilled the beans in Vegas over the weekend during the “Verizon Presents Max: Hacks Watch Party,” part of the telecom brand’s “Verizon Live” activation at the Super Bowl.

The two were joined by Verizon executives, customers, fans and guests like Wilmer Valderrama, Karreuche Tran, Joey Fatone and Colton Underwood for the event, which featured clips from season two of Hacks, along with exclusive details about season three (premiering on Max this spring).

After a poignant ending to season two, Downs says the new season picks up a year later, with Jean Smart’s Deborah and Einbinder’s Ava navigating their professional and personal lives without each other. “It’s really a new frontier,” says Downs. “Even though they’re both doing really well individually, there’s an uneasiness and unfulfilled part of their life without the other, so we get to explore what that means.”

But this doesn’t mean fans have seen the last of the dynamic duo. “Ava and Deborah do find their way back [to each other],” Einbinder concedes, “and they have a new mission, a new job on the horizon and new things to work towards.”

While Hacks has featured cameos from the likes of Wayne Newton and Margaret Cho in the past, Einbinder teases a big musical surprise for season three: “We have a really awesome musician doing a cover of an iconic song,” she reveals. “But I don’t know if I can say more than that.”

As for her own musical tastes? “I will be honest with you — I’m trying to work on my self-esteem,” Einbinder jests, “so I’ve been playing ‘Conceited’ by Remy Ma on my way to work, and just really singing it.”

The Hacks panel was just one of a number of ways that Verizon was on the scene at this year’s Super Bowl (ahem, that big Super Bowl commercial). The IRL activations took place at the Jimmy Kimmel Comedy Club and began with the “@NetflixGeeked Kickoff event” on Thursday night, which featured cast members and filmmakers from the upcoming Netflix releases Avatar: The Last Airbender, 3 Body Problem, and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver.

Friday featured a chat between Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg and ESPN’s Mina Kimes, along with two-time Super Bowl champ Eli Manning and LA Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, to “highlight the power of Verizon’s network both in stadiums and in the communities where fans live, work and play.” Verizon also talked up its first season of coach-to-coach communication — a private wireless network coaches use to call plays during the game — which made its first-ever Super Bowl appearance in Las Vegas.

The events concluded on Saturday with “Run the Playlist Live,” which brought together NFL players, fans and Anderson .Paak (as DJ Pee Wee) to curate a live playlist for the “ultimate Super Bowl LVIII pregame party.” Guest also enjoyed an intimate performance from Tobe Nwigwe, who most recently lit up the stage with Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live.

The Verizon events served to not only hype up fans for the big game, but also to promote their exclusive Verizon bundles, which give customers a chance to add Netflix and Max to their phone plan for just $10 a month, or Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, along with Netflix and Max for just $20 per month. See full bundle plans here.