‘Empire’ Season 5 Spoilers: Star Teases ‘Unified’ Lyon Family Ahead Of Premiere

When “Empire” Season 5 premieres in the fall, viewers will see an entirely different side of the Lyon family. Actor Jussie Smollett, who plays Jamal Lyon on the Fox series, spilled several spoilers about the upcoming episodes in a new interview.

The last time fans saw the Lyon family, they lost their family business after Eddie Barker (Forest Whitaker) sold it from under them. Even though the family suffered a major loss, Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) got married, Jamal took off to do some soul searching and Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) learned he and Tiana (Serayah) were going to have a baby.

Everyone seemed to find a little bit of happiness in the “Empire” Season 4 finale, but that all changed when Blake’s (Chet Hanks) father showed up with a gun and fired three shots that seemed aimed toward his son, Hakeem and Tiana.

Despite the major cliffhanger, Smollett hinted that the Lyon family’s new bond will help them overcome whatever challenges they may face.

“The Lyons have lost everything. And Lyons don’t do well when they can’t eat. They come back swinging, but they come back swinging together. There’s no Lyon family member that’s against a Lyon family member. This is unified,” the 35-year-old told Us Weekly.

Smollett also revealed Season 5 will pick up two years after the season 4 finale. “It’s so exciting because in a way, it’s a restart. It’s also is a chance to show such growth in these characters we’ve been playing for four seasons,” he explained.

While the actor is excited about what’s to come, he noted that viewers will experience a raw side of the Lyon clan now that the family no longer controls the one thing they valued most. “I won’t say [there’s] a darkness to it … the tone has not changed but shifted.”

“Because we’ve lost everything, there’s a certain shine that had to be stripped away in order to truly tell the story of people who were starting from nothing,” he added.

Along with standing by his family, Jamal Lyon will also meet a special someone. However, fans will just have to wait and see if he truly finds his happily ever after.

“Empire” Season 5 premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.