‘The Last of Us’: will there be a season 2 of the series? This is what we know at the moment

Things would have to go awry for HBO Max not to announce season 2 of ‘The Last of Us’ as soon as possible. The series based on the famous Naughty Dog video game still has a lot of history ahead of it thanks to its second installment, released in 2020 and which could last for more than one season. The renewal is just around the corner and that is why we have compiled here everything we know at the moment about its possible release date, cast, synopsis and more details.

One of the most anticipated series on HBO in 2023 and for the moment a total success from critics and audiences (it is the second best premiere of the last decade on HBO only behind the recent ‘The House of the Dragon’), ‘The Last of Us’ is already leaving its mark in its passage through the small screen and the streaming. Created by Craig Mazin (responsible for the ‘Chernobyl’ series) and Neil Druckman (creator of the video game), the story plunges us into a post-apocalyptic future where fungi have turned a large part of the population into bloodthirsty monsters and an unlikely couple that crosses the United States with the key to survival for all humanity.

There are some differences between the series and the ‘The Last of Us’ video game, but overall it’s a really faithful adaptation of the source material. Some may wonder: Do you need to play the video game ‘The Last of Us’ before watching the HBO series? And the answer is no, although you may want to find out what has made it one of the best video games in history. Better to know as soon as possible, because the television journey of the story is going to be long: according to the creators, we could be facing several seasons. This is all we know about the most immediate continuation with a season 2, still to be confirmed.

‘The Last of Us’: will there be a season 2 of the series?

HBO has yet to confirm season 2 of ‘The Last of Us’, but it will likely do so in the coming weeks. To announce the renewal, the release date could be at the earliest in late 2024 or early 2025. The production has complex special effects and filming yet to be undertaken that will take time to complete.

In statements to the press (via Consequence TV), Craig Mazin said about the future of the series: “The amount of story that’s left, that we haven’t covered, would be more than one season. So yeah, assuming we can move on, the idea would be to do more than one more season.”.

‘The Last of Us’, season 2: cast

As we will see in the first season of the series, the cast of ‘The Last of Us’ has a clear core that (unless the end of the series surprises us) we hope to see in the second season: Joel and Ellie would continue to lead the cast. Now, fans of video games will know that Ellie takes much more prominence in the continuation. We’ll see if HBO follows the same path. Joel is played by Pedro Pascal, who we will see soon in the third season of ‘The Mandalorian’, and Ellie is played by Bella Ramsey, who enters ‘The Last of Us’ after being Lyanna Mormont in ‘Game of Thrones’.

As of here, the cast of season 2 of ‘The Last of Us’ is a mystery yet to be solved. We could expect the return of characters like Tommy, Joel’s brother, played by Gabriel Luna in the series, but we will have to see what happens to him in the first season. It is also possible that we will see familiar characters through flashbacks. We can’t rule anything out at this point.

Regarding the characters that fans will expect to see in the series in a sequel, there are several names from the video game ‘The Last of Us: Part II’ that would be essential. For example, Abigail “Abby” Anderson, Dina, Jesse, Lev, Yara, and more. We will wait for more transfer announcements to find out which actors will bring them to life.

‘The Last of Us’, season 2: how will the story continue?

BEWARE: SOME SPOILERS FOR THE VIDEO GAME BELOW

As its creators have confirmed, The first season of ‘The Last of Us’ will cover the entire first part of the video game. Saving the differences that the adaptation may have made, that means that many fans already know how the ending will be. And also what can we expect in the future of the story, which could be expanded in several seasons, as Craig Mazin pointed out.

The ‘Part II’ of the video game takes place five years after the events of the first installment, and shows us how Ellie and Joel settle in a town of survivors in Wyoming. However, one day the tranquility of the place is threatened by a violent event and important characters for history will arrive, such as Abby, a soldier who is part of a group of soldiers from Seattle.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Neil Druckmann said, “We have no plans to tell any stories beyond what’s in the video games. We won’t run into the same problem as ‘Game of Thrones,’ as Part II doesn’t end ambiguously.” In the same interview, Mazin added: “I have no interest in a series of turntables that goes on forever. When it turns into a perpetual motion machine, it can’t help but get a little… stupid. Endings are very important to me”.

With that philosophy, we hope that ‘The Last of Us’ will have at least two more seasons. But first, we will enjoy the episodes of the first season that already premiere every Monday on HBO.