Everything We Know About ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2: The Story, Who’s Returning and More

Credit: HBO Max (4)

Everything We Know About 'The Last of Us' Season 2: The Story, Who's Returning and More

Joel and Ellie’s journey is just beginning. HBO’s The Last of Us is returning for a second season of post-apocalyptic adventures. Based on the 2013 video game of the same name, the series follows Pedro Pascal as Joel, a grizzled survivor tasked with transporting Bella Ramsey’s Ellie across the country, 20 years after a zombie-like fungus, cordyceps, wiped out much of civilization. On their journey to deliver Ellie — who is immune to the disease — to those planning to use her to create a cure, the two form a surrogate father-daughter bond while facing numerous threats, human and non-human. Upon the show’s premiere in January 2023, the series — cocreated by Craig Mazin and the game’s writer and creative director, Neil Druckmann — was renewed for season 2 after only two of the season’s nine episodes had aired. “I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey,” Druckman — who is also co-president of the video game company Naughty Dog — said in a statement to Variety at the time. “The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations. Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do so again with season two! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog & PlayStation, thank you!” A sequel to The Last of Us video game was released in 2020, which picks up with the story’s main duo a few years after the original’s events. Not to mention, it features a major twist that is still divisive among fans. While talks of a third game have been rumored, Druckmann revealed that he and Mazin are sticking to the material they have, for now. [jwplayer tV7N8JYT-zhNYySv2] “We won’t run into the same issue as Game of Thrones since Part II doesn’t end on a cliffhanger,” he shared in a January 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, referring to how their fellow hit HBO series surpassed the plot of its source material book series by author George R.R. Martin. Mazin — who created the HBO miniseries Chernobyl — added to his partner’s statement, telling THR, “I don’t have any interest in spinning-plates-go-on-forever. When it becomes a perpetual motion machine, it just can’t help but get kind of … stupid. Endings mean everything to me.” The Last of Us Part II packs in a lot more story than its predecessor. Luckily for fans dying for more of the show, Mazin teased that the series’ team may need more than one more season to properly portray Part II’s events. “The story that remains, that continues forth in the work that Naughty Dog’s done on the second game, it a lot,” Mazin said in a January 2023 interview with Collider. “Probably the amount of remaining story would take us more than a season to tell. But definitely, I don’t see this as something that runs on and on and on. We don’t have that ambition. Our ambition is to tell the story that exists, as best as we can, in a different medium.” Scroll below to find out everything we know about The Last of Us season 2:

Credit: HBO Max

Will There Be a Second Season?

The Last of Us was officially renewed for season 2 in January 2023, following the premiere of the show's second episode.

Credit: HBO Max

What Will Season 2 Be About?

Season 2 will likely follow the events of the video game's sequel, The Last of Us Part II. Without spoiling what lies in store, the story picks up with Joel and Ellie several years after the original game's events. In addition to working through struggles in their relationship, a major event sets Ellie on a dangerous journey for revenge.

Credit: HBO Max

Who Would Be In It?

Ramsey seemingly confirmed they will return as Ellie for season 2 in a March interview with W Magazine, which likely means Pascal will reprise his role as Joel. The second game also sees the return of characters such as Joel's brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and Tommy's wife, Maria (Rutina Wesley).

Eagle-eyed fans spotted a potential Part II easter egg during the show's sixth episode, as actress Paolina van Kleef potentially made a cameo as Ellie's future love interest, Dina, though the character's true identity hasn't been confirmed.

Credit: HBO Max

When Will Season 2 Premiere?

The Last of Us season 2 has not begun filming, though Pascal hinted that it may begin sooner rather than later. Chatting with Collider in February 2023, the actor said "there is a chance" that filming would begin at some point this year.

One month later, Ramsey provided an update on when fans could expect to see new episodes.

“It will be a while. I think we’ll probably shoot at the end of this year, beginning of next,” she said while appearing on a March 2023 episode of The Jonathan Ross Show. “So it’ll probably be the end of 2024, early 2025.”

Credit: HBO Max

Will the Show Go Beyond Two Seasons?

Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2023 that Part II's events may take more than one season to cover. “The story that remains, that continues forth in the work that Naughty Dog’s done on the second game, it a lot," he revealed at the time. "Probably the amount of remaining story would take us more than a season to tell. But definitely, I don’t see this as something that runs on and on and on. We don’t have that ambition. Our ambition is to tell the story that exists, as best as we can, in a different medium.”