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The Last of Us season 3 is officially on the way, and it may wind up being the last new batch of episodes we ever see of the live-action HBO adaptation... More on that later as we give you the lowdown on the horror-drama's hotly anticipated return, from its release date and confirmed cast to behind-the-scenes exits.
Following the dramatic events of The Last of Us season 2 ending earlier this year, you're probably as desperate as we are to find out what's next for Bella Ramsey's Ellie and Kaitlyn Dever's Abby. We do already know that the latter is set to take the lead going forward, as the show explains her side of the story and dares viewers to sympathise with the golf club-wielding antagonist. For everything else? We have Naughty Dog's beloved game to give us some clues, too... If you're not afraid of spoilers, that is.
The Last of Us season 3 release date speculation
The release date for The Last of Us season 3 has not been announced yet, but we can expect a 2027 release, according to HBO boss Casey Bloys. "The series is definitely planned for 2027," he said in July 2025. "Craig [Mazin] is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season. It hasn't been decided yet, and I'm following Craig's lead on that."
A few weeks later, on August 19, Craig Mazin said he was still writing the scripts. "This is kind of my favorite time. It's very quiet. It's just sitting here with my wonderful ergonomic keyboard and clacking away. The pages are happening," he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Mazin also revealed season 3 will be longer than season 2. "We're kind of fiddling around with that – it's a little bit of a trade secret at the moment. But I will say that season three will be longer than season two. Season 3 will be more on par with season one. More bang for the buck," he explained.
The Last of Us season 1 aired in 2023 and The Last of Us season 2 premiered in 2025, so we expected a two-year wait for season 3. Keep an eye on this space for more updates on the official release date.
As for the creative team behind the new season, there are some changes moving forward. Back in July 2025, The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann announced he was not returning as showrunner for season 3, instead focusing on Naughty Dog's upcoming projects.
"As much as I miss getting into the weeds and working on the effects shots and giving script notes and really getting into the details of it, I’m trying to just shepherd it," Druckmann said in September 2025. "My hope for season 3, and what I’d like to think I can best contribute to it, is to make sure it’s as deeply faithful as season 1 was. Because I feel like that is the gold standard for this kind of adaptation, while enjoying all these beautiful expansions that happen naturally with the rest of the team and how they’re working on season 3. So that is where my involvement will stay, is at that very, very high level."
The Last of Us season 3 plot *SPOILERS*
The Last of Us season 3 will continue to adapt The Last of Us Part 2, which follows Ellie as she sets out for revenge against Abby, who brutally murders Joel after it's revealed that the surgeon Joel killed at the end of season 1 was actually Abby's father. And not only that, he was also the only living doctor who was capable of making a cure for the Cordyceps virus. At the end of The Last of Us season 2, Ellie manages to kill all of Abby's friends before she and Abby have their first confrontation, which ends with Jesse's death. Abby then shoots Ellie before we cut to Abby waking up in The Stadium (WLF headquarters) with on-screen text that reads, "Seattle Day One."
Catherine O'Hara previously confirmed that season 3 will, in fact, center on Abby's story – which isn't a shock to anyone who has played Part 2. To explain, The Last of Us Part 2 is told from Ellie and Abby's points of view, with the player controlling both characters. The timeline in the game is then split in two: Ellie's perspective: Jackson, Seattle Day One, Seattle Day Two, Seattle Day Three; Abby's perspective: Seattle Day One, Seattle Day Two, Seattle Day Three; and The Farm/Santa Barbara.
The switch to Abby's perspective shows us what she was doing during those three days that Elie and Dina were hunting her down, and gives us some backstory that makes us reluctantly sympathetic for her and her reasons for killing Joel. Day Three takes us back to the The Last of Us season 2 finale, but from Abby's perspective - the player hunts Ellie down, rather than hide from Abby.
During The Farm part of the game, we see Ellie's life with Dina and their baby. Their peaceful life is interrupted when Tommy pops up and tells Ellie that he's tracked Abby's whereabouts to Santa Barbara - and that she should absolutely go and kill her (which does seem a little out of pocket for TV show Tommy). Ellie does leave for Santa Barbara, which is where Abby and Ellie's final showdown takes place. The game ends from Ellie's perspective.
That being said, we can speculate that The Last of Us season 3 will start with Abby's Seattle Day One, Two, and Three - and potentially end there.
Because a season 4 has been planned (though not yet renewed), it's possible that the fourth season will center on The Farm and Santa Barbara, saving Abby and Ellie's final confrontation until then (especially with what O'Hara said about season 3 focusing mainly on Abby's story). It's worth noting that season 2 does change the narrative quite a bit, what with telling us within just the first few minutes of the season that Abby plans to kill Joel - rather than keep her reasoning something of a mystery until we play through her perspective.
Because of this, we can expect many more narrative changes as well as a crop of new characters. It's possible that showrunner and writer Craig Mazin decided to save Lev and Yara, two members of Abby's crew who become essential to Ellie's story, for season 3 so as not to muddle or complicate the main plot.
The Last of Us season 3 cast
Though her friends are dead in the present day timeline, season 3 will show us what Abby was doing in Seattle while Ellie and Dina were hunting her down. Because of this, Abby's crew will return – though we're not sure if Lev and Yara, two members of the WLF who become an important part of Ellie's life and story, will appear just yet. Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced will no doubt return, as well as Jeffrey Wright's terrifying Isaac, who has more or less been made a larger antagonist in the show than he was in the game (and we're not complaining). We can also only speculate that deceased characters like Jesse and Joel will appear in flashbacks.
Catherine O'Hara, who tragically passed away on January 30, previously confirmed that she "definitely" wouldn't be appearing in season 3 due to its focus on Abby.
"I'm getting mentally and physically prepped right now. I go up in a couple days, actually, to start prep over there," Dever revealed on January 26, which means she's in situ now. "I'm so excited to kind of take on a much bigger role in the season."
Brand new characters created specifically for the show are also likely to appear (and the Seraphites will make a return, given that they are the main enemy of the WLF). Based on what we know so far, we've compiled a speculative cast list below.
- Bella Ramsey as Ellie
- Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
- Pedro Pascal as Joel
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy
- Rutina Wesley as Maria
- Isabela Merced as Dina
- Jeffrey Wright as Isaac
- Spencer Lord as Owen
- Tati Gabrielle as Nora
- Danny Ramirez as Manny
- Ariela Barer as Mel
- Alanna Ubach as Hanrahan
- Ben Ahlers as Burton
Is there a The Last of Us season 3 trailer?
There is no trailer for The Last of Us season 3, as writing or filming has not yet begun. Because we can speculate that the season will air in 2027, we can most likely expect a trailer around then, if not in late 2026.
Is The Last of Us season 3 the final season?
Mazin and Druckmann have said time and time again – including to GamesRadar+ directly – that they plan to stretch The Last of Us Part 2 over at least two more seasons. After the official season 3 renewal, Mazin told Collider: "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."
HBO boss Casey Bloys, however, said in July 2025 that Mazin is now considering the possibility of only one more season: "Craig is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season. It hasn’t been decided yet, and I’m following Craig’s lead on that."
Doubling down on that, Bloys told Deadline in February 2026 that it "certainly seems" like the third chapter will also be the final chapter. "On decisions like that, we will defer to the showrunners," he concluded.
If season 3 follows in its predecessor's footsteps and spans only seven episodes, we can speculate that season 4 will give us the final showdown between Ellie and Abby that happens at the very end of the game.
The Last of Us seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max in the US and NOW in the UK. For more, check out our The Last of Us season 2 review.
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