Spoilers below for both of The Last of Us’ completed seasons, so be warned if you haven’t yet finished watching on HBO or with a Max subscription.
As The Last of Us’ second season went from development and into the throes of production, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann were fairly candid about their plan to split the video game sequel’s massive narrative in half. HBO still waited until the week before Season 2’s big premiere to officially renew the hit series for Season 3, but it’s definitely confirmed as one of many upcoming video game adaptations. And what an exciting season it’ll be.
After that wild Season 2 finale took out a main character (and a couple of others) while putting even more right in harm’s way, The Last of Us will have viewers on their toes wondering about Ellie’s fate for the foreseeable future. But now that the wait is on, we’re keeping track of all the big Season 3 updates while also speculating about story beats and which characters will and won’t be back. So hop on Shimmer’s back and let’s trot through what we know about the third season so far.
When Will The Last Of Us Season 3 Premiere?
With Season 2 having only just concluded, The Last of Us fans will likely be waiting a while to see how the story plays out for everyone still alive in the theater. To date, no plans are officially in place for the production to begin, much less an official release date on HBO.
It’s possible new episodes won’t arrive until 2027, which would line up with the nearly two-year wait between the first and second seasons. But hopefully the wait won’t be quite so long.
Craig Mazin’s Plan Has Been To Start Writing Season 3 After Season 2 Ends
In early April, co-showrunner Craig Mazin talked with GamesRadar+ and was, at the time, still neck-deep in making sure all the final details were locked in place ahead of the Season 2 premiere. As such, he wasn’t in the most ideal place to start breaking down the story for future episodes. But he did share that he’d be jumping right back to work after a brief period away from his computer, saying:
The renewal we got from HBO means [there’s] this enormous faith in it, and it means the audience doesn’t have to worry about it being canceled. They can watch Season 2 in peace knowing there will be a Season 3. But I’ll take a few weeks. Then if there’s one thing I know about myself, I will be absolutely champing at the bit to get back to the keyboard.
Hopefully Mazin opens up on social media about when he starts digging down into outlining the new season.
What Will The Last Of Us’ Season 3 Story Be About?
While the creative team no doubt has some surprises in store for The Last of Us viewers, there are at least two overarching storylines that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Season 3 will dig into.
Abby’s Story
Mirroring the video game’s dual narratives. taking place during the same time frame, The Last of Us delivered Ellie’s side of this tragic tale in Season 2, with the vast bulk of Abby-centric scenes being held for the third cycle. It’s almost a bigger risk to bifurcate things so completely, since it gives TV audiences more time to stew in hatred for the supposed villain, but I’ve little doubt that the writers will successfully put fans in Abby’s shoes quickly enough to somewhat justify her awful actions.
To that end, Mazin and Druckmann will also take viewers deeper into Abby’s daily regimen as a trusted soldier under Isaac’s WLF leadership, as well as her personal life and relationships with others in her group. Just in case anyone thought that Owen and Mel’s deaths in the finale were already tragic enough, there’s a lot more backstory to fill out for those two and others.
The War Between The Wolves And The Scars
Once Jeffrey Wright‘s callous and intimidating Isaac was introduced in Episode 204, I assumed the TV series would give viewers some kind of bullet-pointed exposition giving context to the ongoing conflict between the militant WLF soldiers and the cult-like Seraphites. But in the podcast episode that followed “Day One,” Craig Mazin explained that Season 3 will provide answers to such questions, and that worries about not being renewed fed into the decision to hold off on those details entirely.
I can’t wait to see where that journey into the heart of darkness goes, although I realize it’s going to be as unpleasant as this show gets. With Isaac leading dozens of Wolves to their assumed doom specifically to destroy the Seraphites’ island community, one can be sure this didn’t all start over something inconsequential.
The Last Of Us Characters And Cast Members Most Likely To Return In Season 3
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) & Dina (Isabela Merced) – Alive, Presumed Alive
- I think we can all agree that this duo is the most obvious pair of characters destined to be back on the small screen for The Last of Us Season 3, so it’s not really worth going into the reasons why it’s logical, even if we didn’t see where Dina was after Abby breached the theater.
Joel (Pedro Pascal) – Beaten And Stabbed To Death By Abby
- While it definitely seemed like Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann utilized the bulk of the games’ Joel-centric flashbacks in Season 2’s penultimate episode, I can’t help but feel like the co-creators will continue giving viewers emotional pops that coincide with Ellie’s memories, or perhaps even Abby’s nightmares.
Tommy (Gabriel Luna) & Maria (Rutina Wesley) – Alive, Alive
- While Maria’s safety isn’t in question by the end of Season 2, Tommy being at the end of Abby’s gun barrel is not the happiest situation for the character. That said, he didn’t appear to be fatally wounded in those final moments, and it didn’t appear as if Abby’s final gunshot was meant for his head.
Jesse (Young Mazino) – Shot To Death By Abby
- Honestly, I don’t expect Jesse to get a ton of extra scenes in Season 3, and while it would be good to see more from him and DIna in private, I really only expect to see Jesse return whenever the show returns to that final scene from Abby’s point of view. A sad reason to have the actor back on set, but still.
Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) – Alive
- Considering Season 2 ends with her likely aiming to put a bullet between Ellie’s eyes, I’d say the chances are higher than Gail that Abby will return almost immediately when Season 3 kicks off.
Owen (Spencer Lord) & Mel (Ariela Barer) – Both Killed By Ellie
Despite being taken out of the story rather unceremoniously in the midst of the confrontation with Ellie, Owen and Mel’s personal stories have yet to be explored, so I can only imagine that they’ll get even deeper backstories that help make their eventual doomed fates all the more gut-wrenching to witness.
Nora (Tati Gabrielle) – Presumed Dead
As the first in Abby’s group to get picked off in the game, Nora doesn’t necessarily have the most interesting history to explore for the TV series, but Tati Gabrielle’s performance in the back half of “Feel Her Love” was so excellent, I can’t imagine we won’t get a few heartbreaking details from her past to think about.
Manny (Danny Ramirez) – Presumed Alive
Manny is the only core member of Abby’s group whose fate isn’t explored by the Season 2 finale, as he wasn’t seen again beyond his appearance in “Day One.” So it would be baffling if this character didn’t show up again before the end of the season.
Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) – Presumed Alive
The WLF’s rather sadistic leader has yet to have his actions explored or explained for audiences, so I’m waiting for Season 3 to dig into Isaac’s twisted outlook and what the ongoing conflict between the soldiers and the Seraphites is all about in the HBO series’ lore. And I’m assuming Isaac will still have his loyal second banana Burton (Ben Ahlers) around.
The Last Of Us Characters And Cast Members Least Likely To Return In Season 3
Eugene (Joe Pantoliano) – Shot To Death By Joel
- As much as I’d love to witness a scene where Joey Pants and Catherine O’Hara were actually on-screen together as married couple Eugene and Gail, I don’t see the need for him to return after such an emotionally gripping guest spot in “The Price.”
Gail (Catherine O’Hara) – Alive
I’m not 100% convinced that we won’t see Gail again in Season 3, because I think we can all agree it would be a TV sin to get rid of Catherine O’Hara without a reason. But if Abby’s group gets the bulk of the screentime in Season 3, I’m not sure how much time would need to be spent with Gail now that we’ve seen Eugene’s death play out. Plus, Catherine O’Hara shared with Variety that Mazin told her she wouldn’t be back in Season 3.
Javier Miller (Tony Dalton) – Fate Unknown, Presumed Dead
Considering Joel’s family history didn’t extend beyond Sarah and Tommy in the video games, the TV series introduced the Miller boys’ father as a self-aware abuser hoping for Joel to break the genetic cycle of violence. His lone scene was key to exploring Joel’s surrogate-father mindset in “The Price,” but he likely won’t be required for any future introspective flashbacks.
Seth (Robert John Burke) – Alive
For all that I’m holding out hope to see more from Maria and Gail, I can’t imagine The Last of Us will give the bigoted service worker yet another chance to partially redeem himself for his slurred rudeness and Ellie and Dina kissed.
Season 3 Likely Won’t Be The Final Season
With a post-apocalyptic show like The Walking Dead spanning eleven seasons and a wide variety of spinoffs, one might think The Last of Us would be similarly geared for an extended run, but that’s not at all the gameplan for this universe. Mazin and Druckman have stated in interviews that they don’t want to make the Game of Thrones mistake of taking the live-action adaptation beyond the previously existing story.
Without a third video game in the works yet, or even fully confirmed to one day exist, the implication would be that the TV show would need to wrap it up after the events of the second game have been adapted in full. And yet…
Craig Mazin shared with Collider that he doesn’t think the creative team will be able to properly fit the rest of the game’s story into the third season, even if it ends up being longer than the second. In his words:
I think there’s a decent chance that Season 3 will be longer than Season 2, just because the manner of that narrative and the opportunities it affords us are a little different. . . . I think we’ll have a little more room there. But certainly, there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That’s the most likely outcome.
So there’s a chance that Season 3 will end on the exact same cliffhanger, just from a different perspective. I hope that won’t be the case, but it certainly seems possible.
