The Challenge returns for its 40th season as eras square off against one another

MTV’s The Challenge is back for its 40th — yes, 40th — season with the second half of the premiere dropping Wednesday.

For the milestone season, fan favorites from all the way back to 1999’s Season 2 (Mark Long) are joined by new additions like Season 39’s (2024) Kyland Young, along with everyone in between. The Real World, Road Rules, Are You The One, Survival of the Fittest, Exatlón Estados Unidos, Big Brother and Survivor all have representatives on this 40th season.

MORE: The Challenge 40 Battle of the Eras: Meet the cast of champs and contenders competing on MTV

The cast is broken into four teams, split by era. Era I spans Seasons 1-10, Era II Seasons 11-20, Era III Seasons 21-30 and Era IV is made up of Seasons 31-39. Each era will lose one woman and one man by the end of Wednesday’s night episode as part of the “Era Invitational.”

The remaining 20 competitors will fight it out for a one million dollar prize over the course of the season.

40 Challengers. 4 Eras. The biggest season ever #TheChallenge40: Battle of the Eras is coming WEDNESDAY Aug 14, but the party starts tonight with a can’t-miss launch special at 8p on @mtv! pic.twitter.com/yyUAwRoiqH

— The Challenge (@TheChallenge) August 7, 2024

“Listen, that’s why this season is so important. We have to show up. Era I and Era II have to make sure that they [Eras III and IV] know who started this, who the real ones are,” Era II’s Emily Schromm said in an interview with For The Win. “That’s what’s so great about this season. … We want to represent our era in a really strong way.”

Newer players like Young on the Era IV squad — which is the only team without any competitors from the original Challenge feeder Road Rules or Real World shows — feel a sense of excitement and pressure to face the legends of the game.

“This is my first time really getting to play with everybody that I’ve gotten to watch and just become such a fan of,” Young stated. “So that’s really exciting, and it’s the only way that I can find out. Like, can I hang with these guys at all? It’s gonna be very exciting to have the opportunity.”

Episodes of The Challenge air on Wednesday nights at 8pm ET on MTV.