Looking for updates on The Last of Us season 2? Then you've come to the right place. The show, which currently boasts the biggest debut season in HBO’s history, wrapped its first season in March 2023, and ever since then, viewers have been anticipating the continuation of the saga, which is finally on the horizon.
Below, we have combed the interview for every single clue and update on The Last of Us season 2 — from casting news to release date updates and first-look photos and clips. Keep reading to learn everything we know so far about The Last of Us season 2, or jump to your preferred section using the arrows below.
Is there a trailer for The Last of Us season 2?
The first official teaser trailer for The Last of Us season 2 arrived on September 26, 2024, aka Outbreak Day, aka The Last of Us Day, the date the virus changed everything in the original game. The trailer is a little over two minutes long, and shows Ellie and Joel experiencing blinks of happiness… until everything goes to sh*t. The intense trailer is downright goosebump-inducing, and shares peeks of the menacing storylines that lie ahead.
“I hate that this teaser isn't just teasing the show but literally teasing at the emotions I felt during the game," one gamer commented under the YouTube video of the trailer. "100% like 'You remember this? You remember what happens next don't you? You remember how it felt? You wanna feel it again?'”
HBO previously released a shorter teaser on August 4 while presenting HBO and Max's original programming lineup for late 2024 and 2025. The clip gives viewers their first look at Dever, Merced, O'Hara, and Wright. In the clip, O'Hara's character interrogates Pascal's Joel, the latter breaking down in tears as he proclaims he saved Ellie. (ICYMI: in the last episode of season 1, Joel killed the Firefly soldiers and Marlene to escape with and save Ellie, as the surgery she was being prepped for to find a cure for Cordyceps could result in her death.)
What will The Last of Us season 2 be about?
While The Last of Us season 1 was a pretty faithful adaptation of Naughty Dog's 2013 video game of the same name and its 2014 expansion, The Last of Us: Left Behind, The Last of Us season 2 is expected to adapt part of The Last of Us Part II, the sequel game released in 2020, which notoriously features a five-year time jump.
Speaking to British GQ in 2023, the series' showrunners teased The Last of Us Part II will be adapted into multiple seasons beginning with season 2. "We will not say how many. But more than one is factually correct," Craig Mazin said.
Courtesy of HBO
The show is also expected to introduce more videogame changes starting with season 2. “There are going to be things that are going to be different, and there are things that are going to be identical,” Mazin said. “There are things that are going to be added and enriched. There are some things that are going to be flipped. Our goal remains exactly what it was for the first season, which is to deliver a show that makes fans happy. We've got an incredible returning cast. It's a daunting task. But Jesus, so was the first season. You can't make everyone happy. But we've made a lot of people happy and that's our intention to do it again.”
Speaking to Deadline in 2024, Mazin added: “Our show as people know it on HBO is going to cover the material from the second game and then quite a bit of material that is relevant to that story but, as I said, wanders down interesting new paths, unseen stories that were told within the context of that games material.” He also added that "the story may require Season 4.”
When is The Last of Us season 2 coming out?
Courtesy of HBO
Though no exact date has been set, as early as December 2023, HBO confirmed that The Last of Us season 2 will premiere sometime in 2025.
Bella Ramsey already noted "it will be a while" between seasons 1 and 2 back in March 2023. “I think we'll probably shoot at the end of this year, beginning of next,” Ramsey said during a TV appearance, "so it'll probably be the end of 2024, early 2025.” Filming and casting for the long-anticipated season were affected by the Hollywood strikes, with the writers' room resuming as deals were reached.
Who is in the cast of The Last of Us season 2?
The Last of Us season 2 will star Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Back in 2023, series co-creator Neil Druckmann put fan speculation about Ramsey's potential recasting to rest, confirming the actor would definitely reprise the role of Ellie in season 2. The returning cast from season one also includes Gabriel Luna as Tommy and Rutina Wesley as Mari.
There will also be plenty of new (familiar) faces joining The Last of Us season 2. Kaitlyn Dever will be joining the series as Abby; Young Mazino has been tapped as Jesse, and Isabela Merced will also join the cast as Dina, Ellie's second romantic interest.
Speaking to Collider about being cast as Dina, Merced said: “I'm so excited for people to see my chemistry with Bella. Bella and I have so much chemistry. From the first day, it was there. There's no work to be done. I really respect Bella. I just saw Catherine Called Birdy and Bella has such range and just an honesty about their work. I'm learning so much. I'm very honored to be here.”
Additional casting for The Last of Us season 2 includes Catherine O'Hara in a yet-undisclosed role as well as Danny Ramirez as Manny, Ariela Barer as Mel, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's Tati Gabrielle as Nora, and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac Dixon. (Fun fact: Wright already voiced the character Dixon in the video game The Last of Us Part II.)
