Cancel your Friday night plans, Marshmallows, because Veronica Mars' much-anticipated fourth season arrived one week early.
The surprise drop was announced Friday during the series' San Diego Comic-Con panel, after Kristen Bell, who plays the eponymous character, asked Hulu to release the revival "now" in celebration of her 39th birthday.
The Veronica Mars revival was initially scheduled to arrive July 26, more than 12 years after the Season 3 finale on the CW. Bell thanked fans for their ongoing support of the show, which began as a teen drama about a high schooler trying to solve the murder of her best friend.
"We're only here because you guys kept watching us," Bell told the Comic-Con audience. "I'll play Veronica until everyone in Netpune is dead."
The fourth season picks up about five years from where the Veronica Mars film adaptation left off. The title character is now in her 30s living in Neptune, where she begins to investigate a series of bombings. Though the detective show stays true to its roots, Bell revealed the new season will have a much more mature tone.
"It's gonna be a much darker world, it's going to be a bigger world, it's definitely not what we did on UPN or The CW," she told Entertainment Weekly, "so I want to brace fans for that, that it’s going to be darker and bigger and more cinematic, a little bit different."
All eight episodes of Veronica Mars Season 4 are available now on Hulu. You can also check out fans' reactions to the surprise release below.
