With Joel and Ellie back in action, will we witness a tale of survival like no other? Here is everything we know so far about The Last of Us Season 2.
After the premiere of the first season, we are certain that one thing that is rapidly being questioned across social media is when the beloved series, which is based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog, will be back for another season. If you are wondering the same, then we can assure you that you are not alone in debating the comeback of the show.
After all, who does not want to see more of Joel and Ellie surviving in the post-apocalyptic world, especially after how the first season ended? So, to clear up any more raging rumors, we at Web News Observer have put together a quick rundown of everything you need to know about the future status of the much-awaited second season of HBO’s The Last of Us.
So buckle up as we embark on an unforgettable adventure filled with heart-wrenching moments, jaw-dropping visuals, and nail-biting gameplay adaptation to the screens, which has all been brought together by one simple question: Can our heroes survive the horrors of zombie-like creatures and collapse society across a post-apocalyptic United States?
The Last of Us Season 2 Release Date and Time Slot
Within a month of its premiere on the streaming platform in January 2023, the series was renewed for a second season after being praised as the best adaptation of a video game.
So, if we look at the renewal pattern and consider the production stages, then we can speculate that the second season will likely premiere sometime around late 2024 or early 2025 at the same time slot of 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max, which many major streaming platforms tend to follow in order to avoid a long hiatus between seasons.
Of course, this can only happen if the filming does officially begin later this year!
For context, in an exclusive interview with Collider, Pedro Pascal hinted that filming for Season 2 will begin later this year. Pascal responded somewhat jokingly, “I can’t reveal too much.” But he did address the possibility of it happening, quoting, “In the year 2023? Oh, what season are we in now? We’re getting into spring?” Ultimately, he came around to specifics, saying, “Yes, there is a chance. Yes.”
On the other hand, according to the British newspaper The Independent, Bella openly admitted “it will be a while” until season 2 hits HBO. “I think we’ll probably shoot at the end of this year, beginning of next,” Bella added during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, quote, “So it’ll probably be the end of 2024, early 2025.” So, the fans can sit back and relax as there is still a lot of time left for the second season to premiere.
The Last of Us Season 2 Filming Locations
The ongoing updates don’t stop there, as it seems like the crew has already started zeroing in on its new home base for The Last of Us season 2, which is exciting to know that behind the scenes, things are moving as smoothly as the fans were expecting them to. According to Deadline, the HBO drama’s filming for the second season is set to take place in British Columbia, including Vancouver, for the continuing saga of Joel and Ellie’s adventures.
If you remember, the first season began filming in July 2021 in Calgary, Alberta, with various locations in the Canadian province serving as Texas, Wyoming, and Missouri. Since The Last of Us: Part II has a major portion of the story that takes place in the Pacific Northwest, it is wonderful to see that the locations are also being taken into consideration. Though some locations might not be exact to the game, the set designers know what they are doing in order to bring the game to life on the screens.
The Last of Us Season 2: What to expect in the new season?
Though HBO has yet to share details about the upcoming storyline, according to co-creator and showrunner Craig Mazin, the season two story is much bigger and may be divided into two seasons. “It’s a big animal to take apart, you know? Because it’s a much bigger and more complicated story. It’s a beautiful story,” Mazin told IGN. That’s not all, he also hinted, “It’s more than a season’s worth of television, for sure.”
Mazin also confirmed season 2 “will be different” from Part II. It will be different just as this season was different [from the first game],” he continued. Further adding, “Sometimes it will be different radically, and sometimes it will be [barely] different at all. But it’s going to be different and it will be its own thing. It won’t be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil and I want to make.”
They also explained why viewers saw fewer infected people in the first season. “I will say that even though we were greenlit for a season of television, Neil and I felt like we couldn’t just make a season of television without considering what would come after,” Mazin said.
Further adding, “There is more to The Last of Us to come. I think the balance is not always just about within an episode or even episode to episode, but season to season. It’s quite possible that there will be a lot more infected later.”
Mazin discussed the team’s strategy for season two in an exclusive interview with Deadline, bragging that while they would deviate slightly more from the original source material, their general approach will stay the same.
“From a process point of view, Neil and I are pretty much in agreement that we’re not changing a damn thing,” he said. “I mean, our process worked. We worked really well together. We adapted where we wanted to adapt, and how we wanted to adapt. We stayed close to the material. Sometimes we drifted away from the material, but that process worked great. So, we’re not changing that process at all. We are going to [continue to] push ourselves in all sorts of ways.”
He also mentioned that the team was committed to pushing the boundaries. “We’re certainly also going to push the technology that we use forward. We learned so much, particularly in regard to the infected and how to better deliver scenes with them. So, we’re just going to keep moving the bar up and up and up. That’s kind of our call to arms.”
However, the second game developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 4 was released back in 2020 and takes place multiple years after the original game. If you haven’t played the game yet, we will not reveal the future storyline, but we can assure you there is a lot to unpack! Additionally, Ramsey revealed her excitement for Season 2 in a new interview with ComicBook.com’s The Last of Pods podcast, despite knowing it will be a very different experience.
“I’m really excited. It still feels surreal to me that it’s going to go again,” Ramsey said. “But also, I don’t want to go into it comparing it to the experience of the first season, because […] Season 1 of The Last of Us was the best year of my life, and it’s not going to be the same. I just have to go into it being like, ‘This is season two. And I love season one, but this is just going to be different.’ I’m really excited. I just, yeah, want to be back in Canada with Craig Mazin and Pedro [Pascal] for a little bit. It’s going to be really nice.”
Reunited.
Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, and Murray Bartlett joined showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and executive producer Carolyn Strauss for a #TheLastOfUs panel at @HBOMax’s FYC Event. #TLOUFYC pic.twitter.com/dtK5Bljvf5
— The Last of Us (@TheLastofUsHBO) May 1, 2023
The Last of Us Season 2 Cast and Crew
The cast members from the first season who are expected to make an appearance in the new season are as follows Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence.
We know that some of the mentioned characters weren’t able to make it till the end of the first season, but there is a chance they might reprise their roles in a flashback scene.
There will be some new cast additions, which will be announced later, as the second part of the game also has new characters to move the story forward. The show is written and executive produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. It is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and is executive produced by Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Rose Lam. Production companies: PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog.
The Last of Us Season 2 Episodes and Streaming Options
The next season is expected to consist of at least nine episodes with an average runtime of 43–81 minutes, just to be consistent with the first season. Of course, this is subject to change if the network wants to make a smaller or bigger season, which will be confirmed later. We would also like to stress the fact that the ongoing WGA strike might also drastically cause a drop in the official episode count if it isn’t resolved before the production stage for major HBO original shows starts soon.
For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds for the second season.
All nine episodes from the first season of the HBO Original drama series are available to stream exclusively on HBO and will be available to stream in 4K on HBO Max. The membership costs $10 per month (or $100 per year) for the ad-supported plan and $15 per month (or $150 per year) for the ad-free option. The series is also expected to be available on Binge in Australia and Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom. The viewers can also stream the show via VPN if it is not available in their region.
You’re not alone.
All episodes of #TheLastOfUs are streaming now on @HBOMax. pic.twitter.com/Z4EOoJYmK2
— The Last of Us (@TheLastofUsHBO) March 21, 2023
The Last of Us: Will it be renewed for more seasons?
The post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us is rich in storytelling potential, and the characters are beloved by fans of both the game and the show. This presents an ideal opportunity for HBO to expand the franchise with additional seasons. The final choice to continue the show will probably depend on various aspects including viewer engagement, critical acclaim, and the franchise’s performance in other media.
In addition to this, Druckmann also stated to GQ that Part II will require “more than one season” to tell, which kind of confirms that the third season will ultimately be considered while the development of the second season is underway to expand this universe as a major post-apocalyptic drama franchise.
He continued, “Some of the stuff I’m most excited for [in Part 2] are the changes we’ve discussed and seeing the story come to life again in this other version. And I think it’s exciting because it leans into those feelings you had from the game, really heavily, in a new way.” However, when asked how many seasons exactly it would take to adapt Part II, the creators remained hush. In conclusion, there is no reason to rule out the prospect of more seasons if the series continues to be a huge hit.
No TLoU on HBO tonight. But Season 2 is already on its way! Endure & survive! pic.twitter.com/87bKKCDBeO
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) March 19, 2023
The Last of Us Season 1: A Quick Recap
The official logline of the first season states, “The Last Of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.”
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Last of Us has an approval rating of 96% based on 467 reviews, with an average rating of 8.75/10. The website’s general consensus reads, “Retaining the most addictive aspects of its beloved source material while digging deeper into the story, The Last of Us is binge worthy TV that ranks among the all-time greatest video game adaptations.” Metacritic calculated an average of 84 out of 100 based on 42 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim.”
The finale episode, “Look for the Light,” which aired on March 12, 2023, was directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. The episode was viewed by 1.040 million US viewers, and the viewers got to see that during the birth of Ellie, her mother Anna gets bitten by an infected in a flashback. Marlene discovers her and, at Anna’s request, reluctantly takes Ellie and kills Anna. Joel tells Ellie about his attempted suicide after Sarah passed away in the present.
Later, Joel is rendered unconscious, and Ellie is captured by Firefly soldiers. Marlene says that physicians are getting Ellie ready for surgery in the hopes of finding a cure after Joel wakes up in a hospital, and Joel objects when he realizes the treatment would kill her. Joel is to be removed at Marlene’s command. He makes his way free, killing several Firefly soldiers—including those who give up—and Ellie’s doctor for showing resistance.
Ellie is unconscious when Joel transports her from the hospital. Joel shoots and kills Marlene when she tries to stop them by saying that there is still time to find a cure. Joel tells Ellie when she awakens that the Fireflies have already tried and failed to find a cure for other immune people. Ellie demands that Joel swear his account of the Fireflies is real as they make their way to Jackson. When he does so, she replies “Okay.”
In the meantime, take a look at the official trailer for The Last of Us Season 1 to recap the story from the Emmy award-winning creator of Chernobyl and the creator of the acclaimed video game on HBO Max’s official YouTube channel below:
Let us know in the comments what you expect to see in the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us.