"The Last Of Us" Renewed for Season 3 Ahead of Season 2 Premiere

“The Last of Us” has been renewed by HBO for a third season ahead of the anticipated Season 2 debut on Sunday, April 13.

While the first season adapted the acclaimed 2013 Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game of the same title, the game’s sequel, 2020’s “The Last of Us Part II,” is so massive that creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann always planned to split its events into multiple seasons. 

In an interview with Variety about the seven-episode Season 2, Mazin said that he felt the series has “one or two more seasons” before reaching the end of “Part II.”

“It’s getting harder to make, because every episode gets big,” he said. “You don’t want to wait four years for a 17-episode finish, or whatever it is.”

In a further statement with the renewal announcement, Mazin said, “We approached Season 2 with the goal of creating something we could be proud of. The end results have exceeded even our most ambitious goals, thanks to our continued collaboration with HBO and the impeccable work of our unparalleled cast and crew.” 

Set in a post-apocalyptic world decimated by a fungal pandemic that transforms infected people into zombies, “The Last of Us,” which premiered in 2023, was among the highest-rated drama series in HBO history in its first season, earning 24 Primetime Emmy Award nominations. 

The adaptation takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Season 2 picks up five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are returning for Season 2, along with Gabriel Luna and Rutina Wesley. New cast members include Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle, Spencer Lord, Danny Ramirez, Jeffrey Wright, Catherine O’Hara, Joe Pantoliano, Alanna Ubach, Ben Ahlers, Hettienne Park, Robert John Burke, and Noah Lamanna.

"The Last of Us" is written and executive produced by Mazin and Druckmann. The adaptation is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and is also executive produced by Carolyn Strauss, Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Evan Wells; with writer/co-executive producer Halley Gross. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, Mighty Mint and Naughty Dog produce.