Overview
How does life go on after not just a global Cordyceps infection, but the chaos that the first season of The Last of Us brought? In 2025, viewers will find out. While the hit HBO series isn't returning until next year, the US network has given fans a glimpse in the interim via the initial two images from the new season.
Yes, Joel and Ellie are back — and, in their shoes, so are Pedro Pascal (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent) and Bella Ramsey (Catherine Called Birdy). The pair of first pictures doesn't give away much; however, Ellie has a rifle in hand and Joel is looking as serious as ever, but with longer hair.
The Last of Us made the leap from video games to TV in 2023, and was swiftly renewed after proving a massive smash instantly. The series gave HBO its most-watched debut season of a show ever — and its first episode was also the network's second-largest debut of all time. Locking in a second season was also hardly surprising because the 2013 game inspired a 2014 expansion pack and 2020 sequel.
For newcomers to the franchise on consoles and as a TV series, it's set 20 years after modern civilisation as we know it has been toppled by a parasitic fungal infection that turns the afflicted into shuffling hordes. Pascal plays Joel, who gets saddled with smuggling 14-year-old Ellie (his Game of Thrones co-star Ramsey) out of a strict quarantine zone to help possibly save humanity's last remnants. There wouldn't be a game, let alone a television version, if that was an easy task, of course — and if the pair didn't need to weather quite the brutal journey.
The Last of Us season one
As a television series, The Last of Us hails from co-creator, executive producer, writer and director Craig Mazin, who already brought a hellscape to HBO (and to everyone's must-watch list) thanks to the haunting and horrifying Chernobyl. He teams up here with Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog, who also penned and directed The Last of Us games.
In season two, Rutina Wesley (Queen Sugar) will also return to the cast alongside Pascal and Ramsey. Kaitlyn Dever (Good Grief), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Young Mazino (Beef), Ariela Barer (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Tati Gabrielle (Kaleidoscope), Spencer Lord (Family Law) and Danny Ramirez (Black Mirror) are the season's newcomers, as is Catherine O'Hara (Argylle) as a guest star.
There's no clips from The Last of Us season two yet, but check out the trailer for season one below:
The Last of Us season two doesn't yet have a release date, other than sometime in 2025. When it returns, it'll stream via Binge in Australia and on Neon in New Zealand. Read our review of the first season.
Images: HBO.