"Penny Dreadful" ended with season 3 but there have been rumors running that the show could go on without its main character, Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), via a change in direction for season 4 or a spin-off shows. Showtime's president of programming Gary Levine has shot recently shot these rumors down.

As reported by /Film, Levine explained during the Television Critics Association press tour there had always been the intention of trying to keep the show going even after the death of the main character. But as they got into season 3, it became clear that series creator John Logan only intended to keep it going as long as Vanessa Ives was around.

"And so then it became a question for us: Is there a life for the series beyond both Vanessa Ives and John Logan's writing? And for us, we thought the series would just lose its authenticity that way. So it was a moving target, which is why, partly why we chose to end it the way we did," Levine explained. 

It is stated that Green's character and Logan's writing and direction were the key to the show and without either one of them there would be no point in moving forward.

Levine also explained that Showtime, Levine and the rest of the cast and crew of "Penny Dreadful" knew that season 3 was going to be the show's final season before it even aired but decided to let the fans discover this on their own instead of marketing season 3 as the last season and because doing so would give fans a hint regarding Ives' death.

Previous rumors indicated that if a spin-off were to happen it would focus on an entirely new different cast but still set in the same world. If there would be at least one recurring character it would be Catriona (Perdita Weeks) given that she was set up as Ives' successor during the events of season 3.