After following Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) post-apocalyptic journey in season 1 of “The Last of Us,” fans are eager for the next chapter of the drama series.
Luckily, the wait is almost over. HBO shared a season 2 teaser in January, noting that the new episodes will premiere in April. The clip shows glimpses of new cast members Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, and Jeffrey Wright.
While HBO has not yet announced a more specific release date for “The Last of Us,” it seems likely that the show will take the time slot of “The White Lotus” after its April 6 finale.
Season 3 of “The White Lotus” premieres on Feb. 16 and will continue to air on HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. EST until its conclusion. HBO has historically reserved Sunday nights for its biggest shows, including “Succession,” “Game of Thrones” and season 1 of “The Last of Us.”
When does season 2 of “The Last of Us” premiere?
It seems highly likely that “The Last of Us” will return on Sunday, April 13, one week after “The White Lotus” finale. That way, two of HBO’s biggest 2025 releases will air one after the other with no gap in programming for the coveted Sunday night time slot.
If April 13 is indeed the premiere date, the season 2 finale will likely fall on May 25.
How many episodes will “The Last of Us” season 2 have?
“The Last of Us” writers, creators, and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have confirmed that season 2 will consist of seven episodes, making it two episodes shorter than season 1.
During a June 2024 interview with Deadline, Mazin explained how he and Druckmann decided on seven episodes when adapting season 2 from the video game sequel “The Last of Us Part II.” Season 1 of the HBO series is based on the OG video game.
“The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons,” Mazin said. “When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”
The show’s star, Pascal, has stated his belief that season 2 will be an accurate adaptation of the video game sequel.
“It wouldn’t make sense to follow the first game so faithfully only to stray severely from the path,” he told Esquire in April 2023. “So, yeah, that’s my honest answer.”
Ramsey, meanwhile, teased during a June 2023 interview with Vanity Fair that season 2 will be “darker” than the first installment.
“It’s really a story about revenge, and a continuation from the first season about the dangers of unconditional love,” they explained.
What happened in season 1 of “The Last of Us”?
Warning: The rest of this article contains spoilers for season 1 of “The Last of Us.”
For those who need a refresher on season 1, the finale ended with Joel rescuing Ellie from the militia group The Fireflies after learning of their plans to surgically remove her brain, killing her in the process. The operation’s goal was to find a cure for the fungal infection turning humans into zombie-like figures, as Ellie is immune.
Joel lied to Ellie about her rescue, telling her that the Fireflies were unable to find a cure, as he knew she might sacrifice herself to the cause if she knew the truth.
