The Last of Us season 3: Release date speculation and latest news

While fans had a pretty good idea where the series was heading after season 2 drew to an end, co-creator Neil Druckmann has officially confirmed the season 3 direction.

Speaking at the Emmy's FYC event, Druckmann revealed: "I can’t believe that they let us structure the series in this way, meaning, like, we just ended season 2, and season 3 is going to be starring — spoiler alert — Kaitlyn."

He continued: "I was sure that they wouldn’t let us do this when we started adapting this, but they’ve leaned into what makes, I believe, the story special. And allowed us not only the time but the creative freedom to be able to take these swings, and I think the audience really appreciates that."

The dramatic finale did end with the focus shifting from Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to Abby as she was roused from sleeping by Manny, with a Seattle Day One title card appearing on screen – revealing that we will be following Abby's journey in season 3, as is the case part way through the second game.

Now that it's officially been confirmed, fans have naturally started to wonder if we'll be seeing any of Ramsey in season 3 at all, with the actor recently setting the record straight.

Speaking to Variety, Ramsey explained: "I think that I’m going to be there, but not a whole bunch. We’ve had conversations about that."

They went on to say that they expect their screen time will be reduced so that the story can focus on Abby, adding: "I sort of have a rough idea of what it’s going to be, but I can’t tell you."

But when will The Last of Us season 3 be released? Read on to find out everything we know so far.

The Last of Us season 3 release date speculation

A release date for The Last of Us season 3 has not yet been confirmed.

For fans who are desperate for the next chapter, unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be arriving anytime soon.

Of course, there was quite the lengthy gap between seasons 1 and 2, with season 1 being released in January 2023 and season 2 following all the way in April 2025.

That said, season 2 was impacted by the writers' and actors' strikes, so the wait between seasons 2 and 3 could be shorter, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Filming is yet to kick off, and series star Isabella Merced has already admitted in an interview with Variety that she doesn't know when production on season 3 is due to start, but thinks "it should be next year".

If season 3 production were to kick off in 2026, we could potentially be looking at a release date of early 2027.

How many episodes will there be in The Last of Us season 3?

As of now, an episode count for season 3 has not yet been revealed. However, co-creator Craig Mazin has said that the third season will likely be longer in length than season 2.

Season 1 consisted of nine episodes and so fans were surprised with season 2's 7-episode run. Could we be going back up to 9 or even more? As of now, nothing else has been revealed, but Mazin did explain the thought process, telling Collider: "There are natural perforations in the narrative where you can go, “Okay, let’s tear it here.” I think there’s a decent chance that season 3 will be longer than season 2, just because the manner of that narrative and the opportunities it affords us are a little different.

"The thing about Joel’s death is that it’s so impactful. It’s such a narrative nuclear bomb that it’s hard to wander away from it. We can’t really take a break and move off to the side and do a Bill and Frank story. I’m not sure that will necessarily be true for season 3. I think we’ll have a little more room there.

"But certainly, 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."

The Last of Us season 3 cast: Who will return?

Seeing as the third season of The Last of Us has already been confirmed as being about Abby, Kaitlyn Dever will be taking on a lead role in the upcoming instalment.

Introduced in season 2 as Ellie's antagonist and Joel's murderer, there's certainly plenty more of the story to flesh out from the original games and from her perspective.

At one point it seemed as though we might not see Ellie at all in season 3, but Mazin has now confirmed we haven't seen the last of her, and it now seems as though we will see Ellie and Dina, just in a diminished role.

Meanwhile, there were three major deaths in the finale – Young Mazino's Jesse (killed by Abby), Spencer Lord's Owen and Ariela Barer's Mel (both killed by Ellie). This is in addition to Tati Gabrielle's Nora, who died in the previous episode.

However, due to the nature of the narrative jumping back in time to follow Abby, and armed with the knowledge of what happens in the game, we'd definitely expect the characters to return for season 3.

Barer has already confirmed she'll be back, telling Collider: "I'm so excited to keep working with the WLF crew and Jeffrey Wright, who I've not worked with yet, but have met. He's awesome.

"There are little secrets that Craig has planted that I'm very excited to watch be extended. I won’t elaborate more."

However, Catherine O'Hara has confirmed that Mazin already told her she won't be in season 3 and, of course, neither will Joe Pantoliano, who starred as her on-screen husband Eugene – barring any unexpected flashbacks.

We also wouldn't have expected to see more of Pedro Pascal's Joel, but Mazin hasn't ruled out an appearance.

He told TVLine: "All I can say is we haven’t seen the last of Kaitlyn Dever, and we haven’t seen the last of Bella Ramsey, and we haven’t seen the last of Isabela Merced, and we haven’t seen the last of a lot of people who are currently dead in the story.

"So I guess the short answer to that question that everyone is asking is: No, I’m not answering."

Druckmann added: "I’ll give a bit more, which is: Whether you will see them on screen or not, their presence will be there throughout."

The cast we'd expect to return for The Last of Us season 3 are as follows:

• Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
• Bella Ramsey as Ellie
• Isabela Merced as Dina
• Gabriel Luna as Tommy
• Danny Ramirez as Manny
• Young Mazino as Jesse
• Tati Gabrielle as Nora
• Ariela Barer as Mel
• Spencer Lord as Owen
• Jeffrey Wright as Isaac
• Alanna Ubach as Hanrahan

What will The Last of Us season 3 be about?

In an interview with Variety, Catherine O'Hara was the first to directly confirm that season 3 is "the Abby story", with the show's co-showrunners since having also confirmed the season 3 focus.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter of this narrative shift, co-showrunner Craig Mazin recently said: "I don’t think television is supposed to work like this. We’re clearly breaking quite a few rules, and I love that. And I love it because that is the point.

"This is not something we’re doing as a gimmick. The point of this story — and this is looked at from so many different angles in so many different ways — is that the entire concept of protagonist is flawed. The entire concept of villain is flawed. Our way of processing the world through heroes and villains is a mistake.

"It ends up creating these barriers between people that shouldn’t be there. It ends up giving ourselves justifications and conveniences for bad behaviour, and it ends up allowing us to judge others summarily for things that we don’t quite understand the motivation behind it. We know this is a challenging thing to keep track of emotionally.

"We understand people are going to be provoked. But part of this story is about examining why we’re so comfortable with following one person’s point of view about everything."

Mazin has also said that piecing together the story for season 3 feels much like a puzzle, telling Collider: "It’s never easy. We’re now confronting all the same challenges for season 3. They’re fun challenges... But all those decisions get made before I start writing.

"We have a master plan and we understand how everything works. That way, when you see things happening in this episode, you understand they’re connected back to the very first episode. It's a holistic thing."

As for the way that things end in season 2, it was all intentional to set up season 3, according to Mazin.

He revealed: "Now, we’re actually in more of a traditional cliffhanger-y mode, where you’re telling a story, and then you end the season with something that says, 'Whoa, this is going to change a whole bunch of things, and we’ll see you when we get back and pick it up from there.'

"We ask ourselves a lot of questions and we think about what we ought to do when we think about what the narrative that exists affords us and that we should do. I’m always thinking about, what are the things that only The Last of Us does? Let’s do those as much as we can.

"And then, you go for it and you make your decisions and mostly just try as best as you can to think about the audience experience and how they’re going to feel when they arrive at the end of something. Hopefully, we set them up to want to return when we come back for the next run."

Mazin also teased that more "information will be coming" about the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) and the Seraphites, both of whom are introduced and seen throughout season 2 but do lack a bit of context. "No, you haven’t gotten all the information you deserve. Yes, the information will be coming. We did this all by design," Mazin says.

As for whether we'll continue to see how Ellie's story plays out alongside all of this, it remains to seen how much of it we'll see, but we would assume the show will continue to explore Ellie's life in the wake of Joel's death and her relationship with Dina.

Is there a trailer for The Last of Us season 3?

Not yet! Seeing as production on season 3 hasn't yet kicked off, there's no trailer right now. Watch this space, though.

The Last of Us season 2 is streaming on Sky Atlantic and NOW with an Entertainment Membership.

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