The Last Of Us Season 2: Release Window, Cast, And Everything Else We Know So Far

HBO's popular post-apocalyptic TV series The Last of Us was a ratings juggernaut, and it's coming back for a second season. The first season traced the events of Naughty Dog's 2013 video game from beginning to end, culminating in a heartbreaking and violent finale. Season 2 will follow the events of 2020's The Last of Us Part II, which means viewers are in for another round of violence, heartbreak, drama, and battles with human and infected enemies alike.

Here's everything we know about HBO's The Last of Us Season 2. This gallery contains spoilers for The Last of Us franchise, spanning the games and the TV series.

The Last of Us Season 2 is set for release in April 2025, so it's only a few months away at this point.

Actress Bella Ramsey, who plays Ellie, is back to play the character once again in Season 2. There is a five-year time jump from Season 1 to Season 2, but this actually brings Ramsey more in line with Ellie. Ramsey is now 20 years old in real life, which is almost the same age as Ellie in The Last of Us Part II (19).

With Season 2 covering at least some of the events of The Last of Us Part II, viewers can expect to see a group of new characters join the cast. One of the most notable new characters is Abby Anderson. She is the daughter of Jerry Anderson, the doctor who was murdered by Joel at the end of Season 1.

Abby is out for vengeance, and this is what drives a good amount of the plot in the game. Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) has been cast as Abby for Season 2.

Other new cast members include:

• Isabela Merced -- Dina
• Young Mazino -- Jesse
• Danny Ramirez -- Manny
• Ariela Barer -- Mel
• Tati Gabrielle -- Nora
• Spencer Lord -- Owen
• Catherine O'Hara -- Unspecified role

Season 1 followed the events of 2013's Last of Us, but it made some key deviations as well like devoting an entire episode to the love story between Frank and Bill. In the Season finale, meanwhile, we saw Ellie's mom on screen for the first time and got a clue for how Ellie is immune to the cordyceps fungus. Season 2 seems like it'll follow a similar formula. Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter that, "[Season 2] will be different just as [Season 1] was different." But just how different and how much divergence will there be from the source material? Mazin said, "Sometimes it will be different radically. It won't be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil and I want to make."

Viewers may be happy to know that Mazin and Druckmann, the key creative minds behind Season 1, are coming back for Season 2. In a press release, Druckmann said, "Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with Season 2." For his part, Mazin thanked fans for giving them the chance to come back for a second season. "As a fan of the characters and world Neil and Naughty Dog created, I couldn't be more ready to dive back in."

We might be getting ahead of ourselves here, but many are wondering--just how many seasons will The Last of Us have? That remains to be seen. But, intriguingly, Mazin and Druckmann recently talked about how the events of The Last of Us Part II are not going to fit into one season. If the intention is to tell the whole story of the second game, this implies a third season. If The Last of Us gets a third season, we wouldn't expect the show to go much further beyond that, but the creative leads have said it could be up to five seasons.

Mazin has said he doesn't want The Last of Us to go on forever. He's intent on making sure The Last of Us doesn't overstay its welcome.

"I don't have any interest in a spinning-plates-go-on-forever show," Mazin said. "When it becomes a perpetual motion machine, it just can't help but get kind of… stupid. Endings mean everything to me." For his part, Druckmann said there are no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games. Right now, there is only The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. Naughty Dog has not announced plans to make a third Last of Us game, so if the series will only adapt events of the games, it seems it will wrap up after telling the story of The Last of Us Part II.

Game director Neil Druckmann made things even more clear, plainly referencing Season 3 in a recent interview with Kinda Funny when discussing the future of the show.

The Last of Us is a juggernaut of a TV series for HBO. The Season 1 finale reached 8.2 million viewers in the US on its first night, setting a record for the series. For episodes 1-6, the series is averaging 30.4 million viewers, which is more than the 29 million that HBO's House of the Dragon had on average for its first season.

Like Season 1, the sophomore season of The Last of Us will air on Max and HBO.

Naughty Dog released the original The Last of Us in 2013 and followed it up with a sequel, The Last of Us Part II, in 2020. Naughty Dog's next game was expected to be The Last of Us Online, but the studio canceled that game in 2023. At the time, Naughty Dog said it had at least two ambitious single-player games in the works, and many believe one of them is The Last of Us: Part III.

Druckmann said he understands people want Naughty Dog to make a third mainline Last of Us game, but that might not happen. Just as Naughty Dog stopped making Uncharted games, despite their huge popularity and sales, Naughty Dog could do the same with The Last of Us.

"I know the fans really want The Last Of Us Part III, I hear about it all the time," he continued. "All I can say is that we're already into our next project, the decision has already been made. I can't say what it is, but that is the process we went through."

More recently, though, it seems Druckmann could have had a change of heart. He said in a documentary that aired in February 2024 that he might have found an exciting idea for a third entry in the series.

"I've been thinking--is there a concept there [for The Last of Us 3]? For, now years, I haven't been able to find that concept. But recently that's changed. I don't have a story. But I do have that concept that is, to me, as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2," he said. "As its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there's probably one more chapter to this story."