‘The Last of Us’ Season 2: Casting News, Release Date

The Last of Us returns for its second season on Sunday, April 13 at 9 p.m. E.T. on HBO and the Max streaming service. The second season consists of seven episodes, which will be rolled out weekly. This is a shorter run than the first season’s nine episodes.

Plenty of the first season‘s cast didn’t survive. Season two’s returning cast includes Pascal as Joel, Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy and Rutina Wesley as Maria.

The show’s new cast includes Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle, Spencer Lord, Danny Ramirez and Jeffrey Wright. Catherine O’Hara also guest stars.

Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) is Abby, a soldier who seeks vengeance for a loved one. Isabela Merced as Dina, a free spirit who has a close bond with Ellie. Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) is Isaac, the leader of a militia group. Young Mazino (Beef) is Jesse, a patrol leader in the Jackson survivor community. Ariela Barer (Marvel’s Runaways) is Mel, a doctor struggling with the realities of war. Tati Gabrielle (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) is Nora, a military medic. Spencer Lord (Riverdale) is Owen, a member of Abby’s group. Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) is Manny, a loyal soldier and another member of Abby’s group. Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek) guest stars as a Joel’s therapist in Jackson.

Fun fact: Dever was originally considered for the role of Ellie back when The Last of Us was being developed as a movie. “Kaitlyn was within The Last of Us DNA,” Mazin has said. “And when the show rolled around, she was no longer convincingly [looking like she was] 14, I think it’s fair to say. Our method is to sit with [actors] and talk to them. Making the show is hard. It’s hard and grueling. She’s an amazing actress and you got to want to do this and she wanted it.”

Yup, two, in fact. The latest is a pretty intense and action-packed look at the season, below.

“[Joel and Ellie’s] relationship has changed a little, and we start to see why,” teases Ramsey, who pointed to a line in the trailer where Ellie scolds Joel by saying, “You swore…” The line refers to the end of the first season where Joel promises Ellie that what he told her about what happened at the Fireflies lab was true. “I think Ellie has that in the back of her head this whole time, and that’s where we pick them up. They’re not the best of friends. She’s quite sad. But there’s a lot of layers to friendship.”

Here’s the official description: “Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”

Mazin has said “escalation” is a major theme of the season, which will include showing different types of infected. “A lot of what’s going on in the season is evolution and change,” he said. “Ellie is growing up, and she is changing. This town of Jackson is growing up. It is expanding. It’s taking in refugees. And the world outside is changing.”

Asked about the balance of action and drama in the season, Druckmann has added, “For us, everything is drama. Even the action sequences are drama. Season one, we were picking and choosing our moments because we weren’t sure what we were doing. Now we know what we’re doing. We swung for the fences with some of this. There’s pretty intense stuff you don’t even see in the trailer. People ask if season two is better. I often say, ‘It’s crazier.’”

It’s been two years and a little refresher is in order: Joel and Ellie journeyed across the country, fleeing an oppressive military authority, FEDRA, which runs the quarantined zones. They find a secret lab run by the Fireflies, the militia group that opposes FEDRA. The doctors at the lab, we’re told, can use Ellie’s natural immunity to make a cure to the plague, except Joel discovers there’s a catch: The procedure would kill Ellie in the process. Still haunted by his daughter’s death, Joel decides to kill the Firefly soldiers and the surgeon to escape with an unconscious Ellie. After, Joel lies to Ellie, claiming the Fireflies had found other immune people too and were unable to create a cure. The two hike to Jackson, a free community of survivors in Wyoming.

First, they’re called the Infected, not zombies. But a lot of people just use the Z-word. The plague was caused by a Cordyceps fungus that now affects humans as opposed to just insects, possibly due to global warming mutating the fungus. The virus is spread by spores from a corpse, or by being bitten by an Infected. There are many different types of infected.

“Runners” are recently infected who are known for their speed. “Stalkers” have been infected up to a year, they hide and stalk their prey in the dark, and sometimes are attached to walls. “Clickers” have been infected at least a year, have split open faces and crowns of fungal growth, and are known for making a clicking noise. “Bloaters” have been infected for several years, they’re blind and strong and have armor plating. Finally, “Shamblers” have been infected for several years and typically are found in the water and can throw off clouds of spores which burn their prey.

That said, we might see entirely different types in the new season. “It was important to us to always move the ball forward with the infected,” Mazin has said. “It’s not a question of just more, but something else, something that is meaningful to what is going on, so they don’t just become NPCs.”

The first season of The Last of Us was based on the original PlayStation game released in 2013. Seasons two and beyond are based on the game’s sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which was released in 2020 and had a longer and more ambitious (and quite divisive) story. The showrunners have said the show’s story will not extend beyond the narrative covered in the games, and making a Part III game is looking rather unlikely. Therefore, HBO’s The Last of Us will probably run a total of three or four seasons, with the latter looking more likely.

Last year, Mazin told Deadline: “One thing is absolutely for sure: I don’t see how we could tell the story that remains after season two is complete in one more season. We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — season three will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require season four.”

A third season hasn’t been officially announced. That said, there is zero chance of the show being canceled. The second season took two years and it’s a fair guess that the third season will take at least that long. Expect a third season of The Last of Us near the end of 2026 at the earliest, but a debut sometime during the first half of 2027 is more likely. There’s no word yet of any spinoffs in the works.