HBOThe Last of Us Season 3 has already been confirmed by HBO, but if you’re hoping for a release date anytime soon, you may be out of luck.
Dread it, run from it, the harrowing story of The Last of Us Part 2 has made the leap to live-action with Season 2, and it hasn’t pulled its punches. Joel died within the first two episodes, and the finale ended on a bleak, shocking note.
Quibbles about how it’s adapted the source material and targeted trolling aside, the second season has been broadly acclaimed. However, the most divisive section of the game is yet to come.
Thanks to the closing scene of Episode 7 and a comment from one of the stars, we have a good idea of what to expect in Season 3, so here’s what we know so far.
Is there a The Last of Us Season 3 release date?
The Last of Us Season 3 doesn’t have a confirmed release date, but it’s “definitely planned” to arrive in 2027, according to HBO CEO Casey Bloys.
HBO confirmed the third season had been green-lit in April, and filming is set to begin later this year (June 30, specifically) in Vancouver.
Season 1 started filming in July 2021 and lasted the best part of a year, eventually premiering in January 2023. The shoot still had to navigate COVID restrictions, hence why it took so long.
The second season was filmed between February and August 2024, and its first episode dropped in April 2025. That’s a 14-month gap between the start of production and the premiere. So, even if Season 3 started filming in August, the earliest it could have started airing would be October, 2026, but we know that’s not the case.
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On July 2, 2025, Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross both announced their departures from the HBO series. Having served as writers, with Druckmann also directing multiple episodes, they played vital roles in translating the games to the new format.
“With work completed on Season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on Season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects,” Druckmann shared in a statement.
As such, it’s clearly still very early days for Season 3 of the show. Druckmann and Gross, meanwhile, are heads-down toiling away on Naughty Dog’s next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
We don’t know how long the third season’s shoot will last when it does get underway, so it’s hard to predict when the show will return. You’re best pinning your hopes on an early 2027 release – if it drops sooner than that, then it’s a bonus.
Who will be in the Season 3 cast?
Bella Ramsey is expected to reprise her role as Ellie in The Last of Us Season 3, alongside:
- Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
- Isabela Merced as Dina
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy
- Jeffrey Wright as Isaac
- Spencer Lord as Owen
- Ariela Barer as Mel
- Danny Ramirez as Manny
- Tati Gabrielle as Nora
- Alanna Ubach as Hanrahan
While Pedro Pascal won’t appear as Joel in a large capacity (considering his character is dead), we could see some more flashbacks – such as the porch scene. “To me, that conversation is at the heart, not only of this season, but this entire story,” Neil Druckmann told the Prestige TV Podcast.
“Going backwards in time, and eventually forwards in time, we will keep coming back to this exchange between these two characters.”
The Last of Us Season 3 plot speculation
HBOThe Last of Us Season 3 is expected to follow Abby, and specifically chronicle what happened in the lead-up to her face-off with Ellie in the theater at the end of Season 2.
After the finale, we can say that this is the same structure as Part 2: Abby finds Ellie at the theater, and then the POV switches to Abby in “Seattle Day One.” As for what happens in that three-day stretch, you’ll just need to wait.
As for the structure of Abby’s story, even its creators aren’t set on a vision just yet. Mazin told Collider “there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season,” suggesting they’d need a fourth batch of episodes to get it all done.
However, HBO’s Bloys later told Variety there’s still a chance it could be contained in a single season. “Craig is still working it out whether it will be two more season or one more long season. It hasn’t been decided yet, I’m folowing Craig’s lead on that.”
If you want to spoil the story for yourself, find out what happens to Abby in The Last of Us games. Neil Druckmann also revealed if the Fireflies cure would have worked and if Joel was right to save Ellie.
In the meantime, keep tabs on the year’s releases with our 2025 TV show calendar and check out our list of the best TV shows of all time.