The Last of Us season 2: HBO Max release date prediction, trailer, confirmed cast, plot details, and more news and rumors

The Last of Us season 2 is set to arrive in the ‘first half of 2025’ – here’s what we know so far.

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• No official release date revealed yet- Confirmed to arrive sometime in the “first half of 2025”- Filming reportedly wrapped in September- Key cast members set to return- New cast members revealed in January, February, and October- Will tell part of the second video game’s story- Rest ofThe Last of Us Part II’s plot will be covered in season 3, which hasn’t been greenlit- Will contain story beats points not seen in the games

There’s light at the end ofThe Last of Usseason 2 release date tunnel, everyone. HBO’s hugely successful adaptation of Naughty Dog’s beloved videogame franchise is set to arrive before June 2025, so the countdown is well and truly on for its arrival.

Before we’re reunited with Joel and Ellie, however, you’ve got a lot of reading up to do onThe Last of Us' sophomore outing. Below, we’ve rounded up the latest information on the post-apocalyptic horror-drama show, which is set to debut onMaxand HBO (US), Sky and Now TV (UK), and Binge (Australia). That includes our release date prediction, confirmed cast details, story specifics, and its first teaser trailer.

Major spoilers followforThe Last of Usseason 1and the games that the series is inspired by.Potential spoilersare also discussed for one of thebest Max shows' next installment.

The Last of Us season 2 release date prediction

I would do it all over again.#TLOUDay Art by @GregRuth. Season 2 of the @HBO Original Series #TheLastOfUs premieres in 2025 on @StreamOnMax. #TLOUDay pic.twitter.com/sKlzPVL0GESeptember 26, 2024

The Last of Usseason 2 doesn’t have a firm release date yet but, in September, HBO chief Casey Bloysconfirmed it’ll launch in the “first half of 2025”.

So, when do we think it’ll premiere? Usually, HBO releases one of its big-budget shows just after the turn of a new year, which it did withThe Last of Us' first season andTrue Detective: Night Countryin January 2022 and January 2023 respectively. However, with filming only wrapping on season 2 in September, we imagine there’s a long post-production phase that’ll need to be completed before it’s released.

If HBO wanted it to launch on a particularly fitting day, it would release the series' next chapter on June 19, i.e. the same date thatThe Last of Us Part II– the second game in Naughty Dog’s award-winning franchise – arrived. However, June 19 falls on a Thursday next year and, while another HBO show inThe Penguinpremiered on a Thursday this year (September 19), it’s very rare that HBO releases its most popular shows on any other day other than a Sunday. It’s for that reason, then, that we think season 2 will arrive on June 22, just 72 hours after its videogame namesake’s five-year anniversary.

The Last of Us season 2 trailer

The Last of Usseason 2’s first trailer was released on The Last of Us Day, aka September 26 – the in-universe date that the Cordyceps virus ravaged humanity and destroyed life as we know it – and it confirmed two things. Number one: once again, it’s going to be incredibly faithful to its videogame namesake. Number two: we’re not ready to have our hearts broken again.

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Before its first teaser arrived, aMax sizzle reel trailer highlighting its forthcoming lineup of thrilling HBO showswas, from a footage perspective, all we had to go on. That came almost three months after thefirst images forThe Last of Us' second seasonwere revealed, too.

There’s a lot we could pick out from season 2’s first trailer, but we’ll be getting into spoiler territory if we elaborate too much on what it shows. You can read a bit more about its newest batch of footage in our cast and plot sections – just be careful because there are light to mild spoilers from this point on.

The Last of Us season 2 confirmed cast

Here’s the cast forThe Last of Usseason 2 so far:

The first four actors reprise their roles from the show’s first season, and they’ll be joined in the major player category byNo One Will Save You’s Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, the second game’s deuteragonist and season 2’s primary antagonist. Dever is joined on the newcomers front byBeefstar Young Mazino, who will portray one of Ellie’s friends JesseandAlien: Romulus' Isabela Merced as another of Ellie’s companions (and girlfriend) Dina.

O’Hara’s involvement was confirmed by HBOin February and, although there’s no word on the identity of her character, it seems she’ll be Joel’s therapist or a close confidante that he discussesthatseason 1 finale moment with.Wright was also revealed to be part of proceedingsby HBO in May, theMarvelvoice actor tapped to portray Isaac Dixon, leader of the Washington Liberation Front and a key ally of Abby’s inThe Last of Us Part II. Further cast confirmations came in March (perDeadline) with Ramirez, Gabrielle, Barer, and Lord all signing on to play other members of the Washington Liberation Front.

The Last of Us season 2 plot speculation

Major spoilers follow forThe Last of Usseason 1 and Naughty Dog video gameThe Last of Us Part II.

Here’sThe Last of Usseason 2’s official logline, courtesy of HBO: “After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”

Not a lot to go on, then. However, based onThe Last of Us Part II, plus what happened in the season 1 finale, we’ve got a good idea of what lies ahead for the aforementioned duo and the series' other characters. We’ll refrain from giving away any major spoilers from the second game – we’re notthatheartless – but there are some spoiler-less aspects we can discuss.

Firstly, season 2 won’t be as long as its predecessor. As we reported in June, co-showrunner Craig MazinrevealedThe Last of Us' next chapter will only have seven episodesas that felt like the “natural breakpoint” for this chapter. Considering he and co-creator Neil Druckman plan to tellThe Last of Us Part II’s story across two seasons, that seems as good a reason as any to make the forthcoming installment shorter.

Do you want to learn how to play guitar? #TLOU pic.twitter.com/f8p8tZk1EuSeptember 27, 2024

As the logline confirms, season 2, likeThe Last of Us Part II, is set five years later, so Joel and Ellie have become established citizens of Jackson, the Wyoming town that the traveled to in order to find Joel’s brother Tommy in season 1.

Things, though, won’t remain rosy between the pair. In season 1 episode 9, Joel decided not to tell Ellie what actually happened at the Fireflies camp – i.e. that they were going to kill her in order to develop a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Ellie is completely immune to the disease, which is why the Fireflies were so keen to get their hands on her.

When Joel finds out about this, he massacres them to save Ellie’s life. It’s an understandable decision, especially in light of what happened to his own daughter Sarah in season 1’s opening episode. Still, he’s seemingly consigned humanity to continue its fight against the infection with his selfish actions and, as evidenced by the footage we’ve seen, he’s still feeling guilty about not coming clean to Ellie.

Elsewhere, there are new intruders looking to avenge deaths from season 1, and one specific event will culminate in a catastrophic and shocking death (if you know, you know). Other remaining characters will have to forge new alliances, there’s a new religious cult on the scene – the Seraphites – for Ellie and company to deal with, a new ex-Fireflies militia force called the Washington Liberation Front,andanother terrifying group who enslave people called the Rattlers. All in all, our heroes are in for a stressful, violent, and emotional sequel season.

“It’s darker,” Ramsey toldVanity Fairin June 2023. “It’s really a story about revenge, and a continuation from the first season about the dangers of unconditional love.”

If that sounds like season 2 will ignore the Infected in favor of human-on-human action, don’t fret. Speaking toVarietylast March, Mazin and Druckmann said of the Infected – whosedesign was inspired by bean sprouts, according to the show’s VFX animation supervisor – confirmed there’ll be a greater variety of flesh-hungry monsters for our heroes and villains to worry about this season.

In much the same way as season 1 expanded on the franchise’s universe and characters, its follow-up will do likewise. Previously, Druckmann told TechRadar that “we couldn’t have told this story in the game”, the TV adaptation’s timeline change was made to “help make the story more real”, and the show’s third episode allowed it to “go in a different direction” to what plays out in the games.

So, there’s a precedent for Naughty Dog, HBO, andSonyPictures Television (the show’s three production companies) to make changes where necessary. Chatting toDeadline, Druckmann said the show’s executive team is playing around with how much might change in the TV adaptation’s next entry, teasing: “The moment-to-moment beats and characters, they might stay the same, they might change. We will do what needs to happen to that story as it transfers from one medium to another.”

Adding to Druckmann’s comments, Mazin also suggested we won’t see every storyline fromThe Last of Us Part IIin season 2 (more on that shortly). Finally, in November 2023,Druckmann confirmed season 2 will contain brand-new material not seen in the games, so there’ll be some new content for long time fans to immerse themselves in.

Will The Last of Us season 2 be the final installment?

While there are only two video games – Druckmann saysNaughty Dog has a “concept” in mind forThe Last of Us Part III, for what it’s worth – HBO’s TV adaptation could potentially run for three seasons. As HBO’s Francesca Orsi toldDeadline: “I think Craig and Neil are still figuring out where they’re going to come to an end.  We have loosely heard that there will be a season 3 idea, but at this point, we’re taking it one season at a time. There’s no guarantee at this point that we’ll have a season 3, but I know that they both have a vision for season 3. Whether that lends itself to doing more [seasons], I don’t know yet.”

Happily, Mazinhasconfirmed plans for season 3 in a separateDeadlineinterview, saying: “It [the second game] is going to be more than one season. There’s more story, so this show will not end with season 2 unless people don’t watch it and we’ll get cancelled”. And there’s pretty much no chance of that happening, in our opinion. Once a third season is greenlit, we’ll let you know.

For more Max TV-based coverage, read our guides onEuphoriaseason 3,Creature Commandos, andHouse of the Dragonseason 3.

As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as thisMoon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.

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