Good news, The Last of Us fans! HBO has already renewed The Last of Us for season 3 before season 2 premieres on Sunday, April 13.
According to a report from Variety, HBO confirmed the renewal of the Emmy-winning series just days before the second season starring Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Rutina Wesley, Isabela Merced, Kaitlyn Dever, Gabriel Luna, Young Mazino, and others premieres. There have been rumors about The Last of Us season 3 circulating for a while, and it's obvious why that was happening.
The Last of Us is, of course, based on two Last of Us video games, but it's been revealed that it will take multiple seasons to adapt The Last of Us Part II, according to the Variety report. Co-creator Craig Mazin shared that much in an interview with the outlet last month.
Honestly, it's no surprise that The Last of Us is coming back for season 3. How could we be surprised that HBO, the network responsible for making incredible dramas, is interested in another season of, probably, the best TV show coming in 2025? Stranger Things and Wednesday fans might have some qualms, but The Last of Us is a heavy favorite to sweep the awards this year. I don't know if another show will be able to put up much of a fight.
The only question I have is how long we have to wait for season 3. There was a pretty long wait between season 1 and season 2. By the time season 2 premieres this weekend, it will have been more than two years between the first two seasons. Granted, there were some issues with the strikes that delayed things on season 2, but still, this show is a massive production. It takes a lot of time to get this story right and look amazing, too, so I'm assuming that we'll be waiting quite a while for season 3.
Even if the work on The Last of Us season 3 has already started, I don't think it's realistic to expect the show to return for season 3 until at least late next year (2026). It might even be 2027 before we see the new season, but we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
With seven episodes in season 2, the season 2 finale of The Last of Us should air on Sunday, May 25.
Then, we wait for season 3. After that, who knows? It sounds like there's potentially more to the story and the highly anticipated The Last of Us Part III, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen. Game creator and co-creator of the show, Neil Druckmann, revealed in that same Variety interview that the game might never happen.
All I know is I'll be tuning in and watching The Last of Us season 2 on HBO this spring. After that, we'll wait until they figure out what's going to happen next.