The Last of Us Season 2: What Game It Will Cover, Cast, and Everything Else to Know

Good news: We finally know when The Last of Us Season 2 is coming. Bad news: It won't be in 2024. But at least we now know when to expect the return of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie's (Bella Ramsey) post-apocalyptic journey.

The somber finale of the apocalyptic drama's first season seems to have dropped ages ago. In case you forgot: Joel and Ellie were captured by the Fireflies, and Joel took extreme measures (which is to say that he killed everyone in sight) to keep Ellie alive. She is safe in the final moments of the show, but Ellie seemingly knows that Joel has lied to her about the Fireflies and their cure. 

With every episode, The Last of Us Season 1 proved that video game adaptations can work. Yes, many in the genre have been lackluster in the past. But with stellar performances, extraordinary visual effects, and episodes that gave us all the feels, The Last of Us established itself as one of the best video game adaptations in the books. Luckily for us, creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have been working on a second season.

HBO officially renewed The Last of Us for Season 2 in January 2023, and audiences are eager to see what awaits Joel and Ellie. TV Guide will share everything we learn about the next chapter of the story here.

ALSO READ: Shows like The Last of Us to watch while you wait for Season 2

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The Last of Us Season 2 latest news

The second season of The Last of Us will be a bit shorter than the first one was — but that's only because the creative team is thinking long term as they split the story of the second game, The Last of Us Part II, across multiple seasons. Deadline reported on June 5 that Season 2 will consist of seven episodes, down two from Season 1's nine episodes. Co-creator Craig Mazin told the outlet, "As we laid it out, this season, the [natural] breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes."

Mazin added that if the show is renewed for a third season, the plan is for Season 3 to be "significantly larger," and he expects that a fourth season will also be necessary to wrap up the story. "I don't see how we could tell the story that remains after Season 2 is complete in one more season," he said.

The Last of Us Season 2 first look

At the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation on May 15, HBO revealed the first photos of Joel and Ellie in Season 2. 

When is The Last of Us Season 2 premiering?

HBO also confirmed at the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation that The Last of Us Season 2 is set to debut in 2025.

The Last of Us Season 2 cast

Jeffrey Wright is joining The Last of Us Season 2, according to Variety. On May 24, the outlet reported that Wright will reprise his role as Isaac, whom he voiced in the video game The Last of Us Part II, in the HBO series. The character is described as "the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy."

Variety previously reported in March that Danny Ramirez has been cast as Manny, "a loyal soldier whose sunny outlook belies the pain of old wounds and a fear that he will fail his friends when they need him most." Ariela Barer will play Mel, "a young doctor whose commitment to saving lives is challenged by the realities of war and tribalism."

Also according to Variety, Tati Gabrielle has been cast as Nora, "a military medic struggling to come to terms with the sins of her past." And Spencer Lord will play Owen, "a gentle soul trapped in a warrior's body, condemned to fight an enemy he refuses to hate." 

Variety reported on Feb. 2 that Catherine O'Hara would be joining the cast. No details have been shared about her character.

On Jan. 11, Deadline reported that Isabela Merced is joining the cast as Dina. "Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable," Mazin and Druckmann told the publication. "You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away."

Young Mazino will play Jesse in The Last of Us Season 2, according to Variety. In 2023, Mazino had a breakout performances as Paul Cho, the younger brother of Steven Yeun's Danny Cho, in Beef. Jesse is described as "a pillar of his community who puts everyone else's needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost." 

Kaitlyn Dever will join Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in Season 2 as Abby, a key figure in the second game. Interestingly, fans campaigned for Dever — a veteran of Justified, Dopesick, and, most recently, Hulu's horror film No One Will Save You — to play Ellie when the series adaptation was first announced, and her casting as Abby was rumored for months before it was confirmed in January.

"Our casting process for Season 2 has been identical to season one: we look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material," Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said in a statement. "Nothing matters more than talent, and we're thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro, Bella, and the rest of our family."

News of her casting came after Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter in August 2023 that the strike had derailed the search for Abby. "The strike stopped us in our tracks. Things were in process. Look, Abby was the first role that we wanted to tackle," he said. "We've got a pretty good track record of making major cast announcements and people going, 'Really?' which will probably continue."

The returning cast includes:

• Pedro Pascal as Joel 
• Bella Ramsey as Ellie
• Gabriel Luna as Tommy
• Rutina Wesley as Maria

ALSO READ: Every episode of The Last of Us, ranked

The Last of Us Season 2 behind the scenes

Co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are still on board as showrunners and executive producers of the HBO series. Mazin and Druckmann will each also direct an episode in Season 2. Deadline reported in January on the five other directors who will be behind the camera in the upcoming season: Peter Hoar (who directed Season 1's "Long, Long Time") will return, joined by Mark Mylod (Succession), Nina Lopez-Corrado (Perry Mason), Stephen Williams (Watchmen), and Kate Herron (Loki).

How much of The Last of Us Part II will Season 2 cover?

It's going to take more than one season to tell the story of The Last of Us Part II. "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 told Deadline in June. 

The second season will consist of seven episodes and will end at what Mazin called a "natural breakpoint" in the story. It sounds like this season might not even hit the halfway point of the second game, since Mazin and Druckmann expect Season 3 to be longer than Season 2 — and they're already planning as far ahead as a potential fourth season.

An official Season 3 renewal has not been announced.

One thing we do know is that fans can probably expect to see more of the infected when The Last of Us returns. "It's quite possible that there will be a lot more infected later," Mazin told Variety in March 2023. "And perhaps different kinds."

How to watch The Last of Us Season 1

The Last of Us Season 1 is available to stream on Max.