– Set to make its debut in April
– Key cast members set to return
– New cast members revealed in January, February, and October 2024
– First two teasers show how closely it’ll adapt The Last of Us Part II‘s story
– The Last of Us Part II‘s plot will be told across seasons 2 and 3
– Will contain story beats points not seen in the games
– Unclear when work will officially begin on its third installment
The Last of Us season 2 isn’t too far away from debuting our screens. The hugely successful HBO series is set to launch sometime in April so, at the time of this article’s last update, we’re only three months away from being reunited with Joel and Ellie.
You’ll want the complete lowdown on The Last of Us‘ sophomore season, then, before it’s released. In this guide, you’ll find the latest intel, including its cast and story details, on the dystopian survival horror series’ next chapter, which will air on Max and HBO (US), Sky and Now TV (UK), and Binge (Australia).
Full spoilers follow for The Last of Us season 1 and the games that HBO’s adaptation is based on. Potential spoilers also follow for one of the best Max shows‘ second entry.
April.#TheLastOfUs pic.twitter.com/8juSTLGx2vJanuary 7, 2025
The Last of Us‘ next chapter doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but we know it’ll arrive in April 2025. Sony announced The Last of Us season 2’s release month at CES 2025 in early January.
Before then, HBO boss Casey Bloys had only confirmed it would release in early 2025 – those November 2024 comments arriving two months after Bloys revealed it would launch in the first half of 2025.
So, when do we think it’ll premiere? The final episode of The White Lotus season 3, aka HBO’s first big release of the year, will arrive on April 6. I wouldn’t be shocked, then, if The Last of Us‘ next season makes its debut the following week – i.e. Sunday, April 13 in the US, with its premiere also airing on Sky/Now TV (UK) and Binge (Australia) on Monday, April 14.
Revealed alongside its April 2025 release window, a new teaser for The Last of Us season 2 had fans gushing over every detail it contains, but some are also concerned about the welfare of one of its new cast members.
Missed The Last of Us season 2’s first trailer that arrived released on the 2024 edition of The Last of Us Day, aka September 26, aka the in-universe date that the Cordyceps virus ravaged humanity and destroyed life as we know it? Watch it below:
Before its first teaser arrived, a Max sizzle reel trailer highlighting the streamer’s forthcoming lineup of thrilling HBO shows was, from a footage perspective, all we had to go on. That came almost three months after the first images for The Last of Us‘ second season were revealed.
There’s a lot we could unpack from these teasers, but we’d be getting into spoiler territory if we did. You can read a bit more about its newest batch of footage in our cast and plot sections – just bear in mind that there are light to mild spoilers from this point on.
Here’s the official cast list for The Last of Us season 2 so far:
- Pedro Pascal as Joel
- Bella Ramsey as Ellie
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy
- Rutina Wesley as Maria
- Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
- Isabela Merced as Dina
- Young Mazino as Jesse
- Ariela Barer as Mel
- Tati Gabrielle as Nora
- Spencer Lord as Owen
- Jeffrey Wright as Isaac
- Danny Ramirez as Manny
- Catherine O’Hara as TBC
The first four actors reprise their roles from season 1, and they’ll be joined in the major player category by No One Will Save You‘s Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, the second game’s deuteragonist and season 2’s primary antagonist. Dever is joined on the newcomers front by Beef star Young Mazino as one of Ellie’s friends Jesse as well as Alien: Romulus‘ Isabela Merced as another of Ellie’s companions (and girlfriend) Dina.
O’Hara’s involvement was confirmed by HBO in February 2024 and, while we don’t know who she’s playing, it seems she’ll be Joel’s therapist or a close confidante that he discusses that season 1 finale moment with. Wright was also revealed to be part of proceedings by HBO in May, the Marvel voice actor reprising his role as Isaac Dixon, leader of the Washington Liberation Front and a key ally of Abby’s, who he also portrayed in The Last of Us Part II. Further cast confirmations came in March 2024 (per Deadline) with Ramirez, Gabrielle, Barer, and Lord all signing on to play other members of the Washington Liberation Front.
Major spoilers follow for The Last of Us season 1 and Naughty Dog videogame The Last of Us Part II.
Here’s The Last of Us season 2’s official logline: “After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”
Not a lot to go on, then. However, based on The Last of Us Part II, plus what happened in the season 1 finale, we’ve got a good idea of what lies ahead for the aforementioned duo and the series’ other characters. We’ll refrain from giving away any major spoilers from the second game – we’re not that heartless – but there are some spoiler-less aspects we can discuss.
Firstly, season 2 won’t be as long as its predecessor. In June 2024, co-showrunner Craig Mazin revealed The Last of Us’ next chapter will only have seven episodes as that felt like the “natural breakpoint” for this chapter. Considering he and co-creator Neil Druckman plan to tell The Last of Us Part II‘s story across two seasons, that seems as good a reason as any to make the forthcoming installment shorter.
Do you want to learn how to play guitar? #TLOU pic.twitter.com/f8p8tZk1EuSeptember 27, 2024
As the logline confirms, season 2, like The Last of Us Part II, is set five years after its predecessor, so Joel and Ellie have become established citizens of Jackson, the Wyoming town that the traveled to in order to find Joel’s brother Tommy in season 1.
Things will take a turn for the worse between the pair, though. In season 1 episode 9, Joel didnt’t tell Ellie what actually happened at the Fireflies camp – i.e. that they were going to kill her in order to develop a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Ellie is completely immune to the disease, which is why the Fireflies were so keen to get their hands on her.
When Joel finds out about this, he massacres them to save Ellie’s life. It’s an understandable decision, especially after what happened to his own daughter Sarah in season 1’s opening episode. Still, he’s seemingly consigned humanity to continue its fight against the infection with his selfish actions and, as evidenced by the footage we’ve seen, he’s still feeling guilty about not coming clean to Ellie.
Elsewhere, there are new intruders looking to avenge deaths from season 1, and one specific event will culminate in a catastrophic and shocking death (if you know, you know). Other characters will have to forge new alliances, there’s a new religious cult on the scene – the Seraphites – for Ellie and company to deal with, a new ex-Fireflies militia force called the Washington Liberation Front, and another terrifying group who enslave people called the Rattlers. All in all, our heroes are in for a stressful, violent, and emotional sequel season.
“It’s darker,” Ramsey told Vanity Fair in June 2023. “It’s really a story about revenge, and a continuation from the first season about the dangers of unconditional love.”
If that sounds like season 2 will ignore the Infected in favor of human-on-human action, don’t fret. Speaking to Variety in March 2023, Mazin and Druckmann said of the Infected – whose design was inspired by bean sprouts, the show’s VFX animation supervisor told TechRadar – confirmed there’ll be a greater variety of flesh-hungry monsters for our heroes and villains to worry about this season.
In much the same way as season 1 expanded on the franchise’s universe and characters, its follow-up will do likewise. Previously, Druckmann told TechRadar that “we couldn’t have told this story in the game“, the TV adaptation’s timeline change was made to “help make the story more real“, and the show’s third episode allowed it to “go in a different direction” to what plays out in the games.
So, there’s a precedent for Naughty Dog, HBO, and Sony Pictures Television (the show’s three production companies) to make changes where necessary. Chatting to Deadline, Druckmann said the show’s executive team is playing around with how much might change in the TV adaptation’s next entry, teasing: “The moment-to-moment beats and characters, they might stay the same, they might change. We will do what needs to happen to that story as it transfers from one medium to another.”
Adding to Druckmann’s comments, Mazin also suggested we won’t see every storyline from The Last of Us Part II in season 2 (more on that shortly). Finally, in November 2023, Druckmann confirmed season 2 will contain brand-new material not seen in the games, so there’ll be some new content for long time fans to immerse themselves in.
While there are only two video games – Druckmann says Naughty Dog has a “concept” in mind for The Last of Us Part III, for what it’s worth – HBO’s TV adaptation seems set to run for three seasons, even if the studio hasn’t officially announced it yet.
Speaking to Deadline, Mazin confirmed a third season was in the offing, adding : “It [the second game] is going to be more than one season. There’s more story, so this show will not end with season 2 unless people don’t watch it and we’ll get cancelled”. Considering how popular this show is, there’s pretty much no chance of that happening.
For more Max TV-based coverage, read our guides on Euphoria season 3, House of the Dragon season 3, and Peacemaker season 2.