How Many Seasons of The Last of Us Will There Be

The Last of Us Season 2 may not even be halfway over, but fans are already wondering just how long this series is going to run for. The Last of Us is currently one of the biggest TV shows on the planet, though last week’s episode may have pushed some fans away from continuing on. Nevertheless, it’s still a huge hit and will likely continue to be until it eventually concludes. However, unlike something like Game of Thrones or even Harry Potter which have numerous, lengthy books to adapt, The Last of Us is based on just two PlayStation video games.

The first season of The Last of Us faithfully adapted the entire first game. There weren’t any major sections that the game skipped over. Some sections were changed for the sake of bringing this story to a new medium, but the structure and story was retained, so there isn’t really any room to go back and bring parts of that story into the TV show for future season. The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin stated he has no plans to make anything beyond what’s in the first two games, even if a third game does materialize in the future. However, that doesn’t mean this is just going to be a two season series. In fact, Mazin and HBO have even stated how many seasons they’re planning for The Last of Us.

How Many Seasons of The Last of Us Will There Be?

To cut to the chase, HBO has stated that it plans to end The Last of Us after four seasons. Of course, plans could change, but that makes the most sense for the show. The Last of Us Part 2 is a very dense game that has a unique structure that will make sense for multiple seasons. It would be incredibly difficult to squeeze everything into just one season. As of right now, we have no idea exactly how they plan to split up the story across each season, but it also wouldn’t be surprising if some episodes in each season expand upon the story in ways that the game didn’t.

The Last of Us Season 3 is already in the works, which could mean we get the third season faster than we did Season 2. As of right now, it seems like video game developer Naughty Dog isn’t actively working on The Last of Us Part 3 the video game, but it hasn’t explicitly ruled out the idea that it will ever happen. However, if it does, it will be a really long time from now given how long it takes to make games. Naughty Dog’s last game, The Last of Us Part 2, came out in 2020 and it has been working on its next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, since then. That game isn’t expected to release for another year or two at best.

As such, you probably shouldn’t expect a third game until the 2030s. Whether or not it would even make sense to continue the show after that all comes down to the story. Perhaps if Ellie is significantly older in a potential third Last of Us game, then Bella Ramsey could return. If Ellie is still in her early 20s, it may require either a recast or for the show to just end with the second game. Only time will tell!