The Last of Us Season 2 isn’t even out yet, but that hasn’t stopped HBO from moving ahead with Season 3 of the show. The Last of Us is one of the biggest IP out there in gaming and now television. The Naughty Dog game was released for PS3 back in 2013 and was immediately recognized as an achievement in storytelling for the medium. The developer was showered in awards and high review scores while commercial success was a constant in the following years as it made its way to PS4. Seven years later, Naughty Dog released the long-awaited sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which was far more divisive but still a big success.
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The success of the first game alone was enough to warrant greenlighting an adaptation. While The Last of Us‘ adaptation was originally conceived as a film, it eventually evolved into a TV series for HBO with game creator Neil Druckmann helping writer, produce, and direct alongside showrunner Craig Mazin. The acclaimed first season adapted the entirety of the first game, leaving only one more game for the show to adapt. Thankfully for HBO, The Last of Us Part II is an extremely dense game and much longer than its predecessor. It was confirmed early on in the development of Season 2 that The Last of Us would cover the second game across multiple seasons and HBO is wasting no time on what comes next.
The Last of Us Renewed for Season 3
While The Last of Us Season 2 premieres this Sunday night, HBO has already announced that The Last of Us has been renewed for Season 3. As of right now, fans will just have to wait and see exactly where The Last of Us Season 2 ends to determine what is left to adapt in Season 3 and potentially, a fourth season. The creative team behind the show have remained pretty firm on sticking as close to the game’s story as possible, though, so we likely shouldn’t expect any significant departures from future seasons of the show. Showrunner Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann also released a statement on the Season 3 renewal.
No release date has been given, but it’s likely a writer’s room has been assembled or will be assembled in the coming weeks as they finalize the upcoming episodes of Season 2. There was a full two year gap between the end of Season 1 and the debut of Season 2, though that likely wasn’t initially the plan. The Hollywood SAG-AFTRA and writers strikes in 2023 halted all development for the second season for about six months or so. The show was already casting prior to the strikes, so it’s possible that the second season would’ve debuted sometime in 2024 had that not happened.
With development already speeding along on Season 3, maybe we’ll get lucky and a third season will arrive in late 2026. The good thing about adapting a game like this across multiple seasons is that the core cast is largely already assembled. There are a few key characters from the second game that have yet to be cast, but it’s a lot better than having to cast a dozen or so new faces for another season of the show. Either way, HBO knows fans are hungry for what comes next!
ComicBook.com gave The Last of Us Season 2 a 4 out of 5 in its review, noting that while it has some flaws, it is an emotionally powerful story that challenges audiences: “While it still has some flaws, [The Last of Us Season 2] uncompromising in its vision and takes swings that few other high-profile stories would ever dare to. There are things about Season 2 that will undoubtedly cause fury for both fans of the game and the show, but the show’s willingness to challenge audiences by tackling big themes is incredibly commendable in this fairly safe era of franchise television. It’s brutally raw, vulnerable, and it will likely drive viewers to tears every other episode, thanks to the powerhouse performances from Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal.”
