Jussie Smollett plays Jamal Lyon in the Fox hit series "Empire." (Photo : Twitter/Jussie Smollett)
"Empire" season 3 will continue to feature Jussie Smollett's character Jamal Lyon.
In recent weeks, there were some rumors that Smollett will no longer return to the series because he would be pursuing a career in movies and music.
However, showrunner Ilene Chaiken just told TV Line that Smollett will still be part of the show, and season 3 will somewhat be focused on his character Jamal's recovery.
In the finale episode for season 2, Jamal told his entire family that he will stop making music until the Lyon family patch things up and settle their issues.
With this, Jamal will try his best to stand by what he said even this means that he would have to stall making music for quite some time.
"The question now is, can Jamal also bring his brothers and his mother along with him on this stance, and say, 'This is no longer how we have to go about our lives and our business?'" she said.
Additionally, Jamal would have to recover from the accident both mentally and physically.
"In the finale, he comes out of the hospital after being shot, but he's clearly not recovered physically, and certainly not psychologically," she said.
Meanwhile, Jamal's new life will also link him with music mogul D-Major. The latter went on a homophobic rampage and accused the second son of Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) of making a bold move at him.
"We think their story is really worth telling. The angry outburst that happened between D-Major and Jamal in the penultimate episode will be pretty hard to come back from. But it's also very real. A lot of gay people know what that moment is about - as do a lot of people who aren't gay. Some of the stories we tell are pretty melodramatic. I believe in all of them, but Jamal and D-Major is grounded in reality," she explained.
Chaiken added that there's hope for Jamal and D-Major to become a couple if the two male characters will be able to meet halfway.
"Empire" season 3 will premiere on FOX sometime this year.
