Now that we've had that The Last of Us finale, fans are now turning their attention to what lies ahead for the Playstation adaptation. Before the highly anticipated season two premiere on April 13, HBO announced that the hit sci-fi series — based on the popular PlayStation video game franchise — has already been renewed for a third season.
The announcement didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. Co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann had spent months dropping hints that they would need multiple seasons to adapt the games The Last of Us: Part I and The Last of Us: Part II, and that Part II’s storyline, in particular, would stretch beyond season 2. As Mazin told Deadline in 2024, '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 to go down interesting pathways, which we did a little bit in season 1, too. Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require season 4.' (Similarly, HBO executive Francesca Orsi told the outlet in February 2025 that 'it’s looking like four seasons.')
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Even before these teases, there was little doubt the series would continue as long as necessary. Actor Bella Ramsey, who plays protagonist Ellie Williams, told ELLE US in 2023 that she would play the character for as long as HBO wants her. 'There’s no limits for me,' Ramsey says. 'They can do as many games as they like, as many series as they like, and I’ll be here, flying back out to Canada.'
Mazin also shared his enthusiasm with ELLE US, adding that, 'To get to the end of the story in the time that we need to take to get to the proper end would be awesome. If I got to work on a set with Bella Ramsey every day for the rest of my life, I’d be thrilled.'
At the time of HBO’s official green light, announced on April 9, 2025, Mazin shared an official statement saying that 'the end results' of season two 'have exceeded even our most ambitious goals,' with Druckmann adding that 'we’re thrilled to bring you more of The Last of Us.'
What will season 3 of The Last of Us be about?
Season 3 will take a backwards time jump to 'Seattle Day One,' depicting Abby’s story during the same time period that Ellie and Dina are searching for her in season 2. In a GQ interview published after the finale, Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Abby, said, 'I think Craig [Mazin] is still trying to write the season. I have no idea what their plans are. Craig says [season 3] is even more intense than season 2, which I don’t know how…[But] that’s all he told me.'
In a May 2025 interview with Collider, Mazin responded to questions about the potential length of season 3, given that season 2 covers only a portion of the Part II plot.
'I think there’s a decent chance that season 3 will be longer than season 2, just because the manner of that narrative and the opportunities it affords us are a little different,' he explained. 'The thing about Joel’s death is that it’s so impactful. It’s such a narrative nuclear bomb that it’s hard to wander away from it [in season 2]. We can’t really take a break and move off to the side and do a Bill and Frank story.'
Mazin continued, 'I’m not sure that will necessarily be true for season 3. I think we’ll have a little more room there. But certainly, there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That’s the most likely outcome.'
It is also part of the original game narrative that the perspective shifts from Ellie to Abby, showcasing her backstory and perspective as someone traumatised by Joel’s actions in Part I. As the season 2 finale makes clear in its final moments, Abby’s saga will indeed enter the spotlight in season 3.
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