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The Last of Us season 3 has been renewed by HBO. The news comes just as season 2 is about to premiere on Sunday, April 13, 2025. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are set to return for season 3. The third installment will continue the story of Ellie and Joel alongside Abby's.
In a statement provided by HBO, Craig Mazin shared his excitement for The Last of Us season 3. He mentioned how he was proud of the work done on season 2 and how HBO has also been really impressed by the results. He ended his statement by saying that he is excited to continue the story for the third season.
“We approached season two with the goal of creating something we could be proud of,” said Mazin (via The Hollywood Reporter).
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He continued:
“The end results have exceeded even our most ambitious goals, thanks to our continued collaboration with HBO and the impeccable work of our unparalleled cast and crew. We look forward to continuing the story of The Last of Us with season 3."
The Last of Us season 3 to further adapt the second game's story
With The Last of Us season 1 adapting the entirety of the first game's story, the second season will naturally adapt the story of The Last of Us: Part II. However, season 2 of the series will not cover the entirety of the second game. The Last of Us season 3 will focus on the second half of the game; the first part is being covered in season 2.
In an interview with Deadline on June 5, 2025, showrunner Craig Mazin explained how the story material they got from the second game was way more vast and will require multiple seasons to be told in its entirety. Thus, to do that, they started looking at natural break-off points for the seasons in the game.
Here's what he said:
“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."
He continued:
“When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season (2), the natural breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”
Mazin also hopes to make season 4 after The Last of Us season 3
Given just how vast the second game's story is, Mazin still isn't sure if it can be completed in the third season and thus hopes to make a season 4 too if required. In the same interview with Deadline, he mentioned:
“We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons [2 and 3] because we’re taking our time and go down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1 too."
He continued:
“We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4.”
The Last of Us season 3 currently doesn't have a release date, but fans can tune in for the first episode of season 2 on April 13, 2025, on Max.
The season will see the return of Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, with Kaitlyn Dever joining the series as Abby.
For further updates on the show, stay tuned.
