The Last of Us’ first season has come to an end, but there’s more to Joel and Ellie’s story than one season of TV could tell. Unfortunately, HBO hasn’t revealed too much about the next season of the show, beyond the fact that it’s happening. We don’t even know when season 2 might arrive, but given HBO’s habit of waiting two years between the first two seasons of its biggest shows (like Westworld or likely House of the Dragon) it seems like we could be waiting awhile to return to The Last of Us’ Cordyceps apocalypse.
The show’s first season adapted the story of The Last of Us Part 1, the first game in the franchise, and one thing we do know is that season 2 will focus on the story of The Last of Us Part 2. Aside from that, here’s everything you should know about The Last of Us season 2 after watching the first season’s finale.
When will The Last of Us season 2 debut on HBO?
There’s no word yet on when exactly The Last of Us might get its second season, but we do know it’s on the way. Based on HBO’s production schedule for some of its other big series, we shouldn’t necessarily expect the customary TV break of just one year between seasons of The Last of Us, which likely brings the second season’s release date to 2025 or even later.
This timeline got a bit more unofficial support from series star Bella Ramsey when she told The Independent that the second season wasn’t likely to come until “end of 2024, early 2025.”
What is season 2 (and The Last of Us Part 2) about?
In the vaguest terms, The Last of Us Part 2 deals with the consequences of Joel’s actions at the end of Part 1. If the (very general) theme of the first game is love, the second game is more about hatred, with most of its run time dedicated to vengeance. If you thought season 1 was bleak, get ready!
Is there a time skip before The Last of Us season 2?
The Last of Us Part 2 takes place a few years after the events of the first game, which means that The Last of Us season 2 will likely have a time skip as well. However, Part 2 does include some flashbacks from the intervening years, so it all depends on how HBO chooses to adapt the story, and in what order.
Will Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey be back for season 2?
Probably! Their characters will be, at the very least. And while some fans online have expressed a bit of concern about Bella being too young for Ellie’s storyline in The Last of Us Part 2, she’s actually exactly the same age as the character in the game already. More importantly, showrunner and co-creator Craig Mazin has already said that there are no plans at all to recast Ramsey — who was one of the best parts of season 1.
Will The Last of Us season 2 be its last season?
It’s possible, but probably not. Officially, The Last of Us has only been renewed for season 2 and not anything further than that, but given its popularity it’s likely to get as many seasons as Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann would like. As for how many that might be, the two confirmed to GQ after the first season finale that they don’t feel the story of The Last of Us Part 2 can be adapted into just one season of television. Mazin is tight-lipped about just how many seasons the pair plan to adapt the game into, only saying that it’s “more than one season.”
What does the first teaser poster for The Last of Us season 2 mean?
The Last of Us season 2’s first big tease is a image tweeted out by Druckmann on Monday, March 20. The image features an unknown person’s arm holding a hammer. While this may seem like a big mystery to show-watchers, anyone who has already played The Last of Us Part 2 will know that this is likely a tease of Abby, one of the most important characters in the game.
Supposing Mazin and Druckmann follow the plot of the second game at all, Abby will have a massive role to play in the story, and one that might complicate the moral universe of the series and our ideas about who the heroes and villains of this story might be. While this tease is pretty overt, there still hasn’t been an official announcement about who will play Abby in HBO’s series, or if she’ll even be part of the second season.
Any discussion of who exactly Abby is, what she’s like, or her importance to the plot would involve quite a few spoilers from the game that are better left unsaid while we wait for season 2, but for now we can just say that she’s a member of the Fireflies with a very direct personal connection to Joel.