The Last of Us Season 2 Will ‘Probably’ Arrive in Late 2024 or Early 2025, Bella Ramsey Claims

The Last of Us season 2 will likely arrive in late 2024 or early 2025. As reported by The Independent, lead star Bella Ramsey appeared on The Jonathan Ross show, confirming that they will probably “shoot at the end of this year, beginning of next.” Their statement coincides with co-lead Pedro Pascal's earlier claims, where he suggested that production on The Last of Us season 2 might begin in 2023. The second chapter of the HBO show will adapt events from The Last of Us Part II, the gory and polarising sequel to the first game, with series co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin confirming that the story will take longer than one season to play out.

“It will be a while,” Ramsey said in the interview. “I think we'll probably shoot at the end of this year, beginning of next. So, it'll probably be the end of 2024, early 2025.” With The Last of Us Part II being a significantly longer game than the first and featuring brutal action sequences driving the story, it makes sense for the story to be divided into smaller parts and spread out across multiple seasons. In an interview with GQ, Mazin stopped short of confirming whether the arc will end with season 3, suggesting the possibility of a longer, more fleshed-out adaptation. It could also mean HBO wanting to milk the franchise as much as possible. At this point, who knows? But Mazin has promised some “interesting things” in The Last of Us season 2, relating to the number of infected on screen and action set pieces, which was a complaint fans had with the first season.

The Last of Us Season 1 Review

Earlier this week, Druckmann also tweeted a poster featuring a muscly forearm tightly holding onto a hammer, with a caption saying: “No TLoU on HBO tonight. But Season 2 is already on its way! Endure & survive!” The image is a tease for Abby Anderson, a pivotal character in The Last of Us Part II, who got a pretty violent introduction and is present as a playable character in the game alongside protagonists Ellie and Joel. The Last of Us Part II's story is presented non-linearly, through flashbacks and alternating perspectives. It is unclear how the creators plan on implementing that kind of storytelling in the show, but Mazin claims that he's got it all planned and that some instances might be entirely flipped to suit a new audience. “There are going to be things that are going to be different, and there are things that are going to be identical. There are things that are going to be added and enriched,” he said in the interview. “Our goal remains exactly what it was for the first season, which is to deliver a show that makes fans happy.”

The Last of Us season 2 will see Pascal and Ramsey reprising their roles as Joel and Ellie, respectively. Druckmann had also claimed that the only time he would consider recasting Ramsey is if she didn't want to continue playing the role. “We are extremely lucky to have Bella…and the only way we would ever consider recasting Bella is if she said, ‘I don't want to work with you guys anymore,” Druckmann told TheWrap, earlier this month. “And even then we're not sure we would grant her that. We might force her to come back this season.” Gabriel Luna is expected to return as Joel's brother Tommy, alongside Rutina Wesley as his wife Maria.

The Last of Us season 2 will release sometime in late 2024 or early 2025.