The Last of Us season 2: release date, trailer, confirmed cast, plot synopsis, and more news and rumors on the hit HBO show's return

The Last of Us season 2 is officially less than two months away. The hugely popular HBO show will return to our screens on Sunday, April 13 (US) and Monday, April 14 (UK and Australia), so there's no time like the present to find out more about it.

Below, I've rounded up the latest news and rumors on The Last of Us' second season, which will air on Max and HBO (US), Sky and Now TV (UK), and Binge (Australia). Indeed, you'll learn more about its confirmed cast, story specifics, first-look footage, and the dystopian drama's future.

It goes without saying, but major spoilers follow for The Last of Us season 1 and the games that HBO's adaptation is based on. Potential spoilers follow for one of the best Max shows' sophomore installment, too.

The Last of Us season 2 release date

As I mentioned, The Last of Us' next season will make its debut on Sunday, April 13 in the US. It'll be released on Monday, April 14 in the UK and Australia. HBO confirmed The Last of Us season 2's release date for mid-April on February 20.

One month earlier, Sony revealed The Last of Us 2's April 2025 release window at CES 2025. That narrowed down the early 2025 launch window that HBO boss Casey Bloys discussed in November 2024 – comments that arrived two months after Bloys revealed it would launch in the first half of 2025.

Season 2's mid-April launch isn't a great surprise. The White Lotus season 3 debuted on HBO in early February and, with its final episode set to arrive on April 6, the US network needs something to fill the void once it ends. Step forward The Last of Us' next season, then!

The Last of Us season 2 trailer

The Last Of Us Season 2 | April 2025 | Max - YouTube

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The Last of Us season 2's official trailer hasn't been revealed yet, but HBO has released two teasers to whet our appetite for what's to come. The most recent, which you can watch above, had fans gushing over every detail it contains, but some are also concerned about the welfare of one of its new cast members.

Missed The Last of Us season 2's first trailer that arrived released on the 2024 edition of The Last of Us Day, aka September 26, aka the in-universe date that the Cordyceps virus ravaged humanity and destroyed life as we know it? Watch it below:

The Last of Us Season 2 | The Last of Us Day Official Teaser | Max - YouTube

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Before its first teaser arrived, a Max sizzle reel trailer highlighting the streamer's forthcoming lineup of thrilling HBO shows was, from a footage perspective, all we had to go on. That came almost three months after the first images for The Last of Us' second season were revealed.

So, when can we expect one last trailer to arrive? As confirmed on X/Twitter, a season 2 panel is being held on Saturday, March 8 as part of the 2025 edition of South x South West (SXSW) festival, so I'd be shocked if its official trailer isn't shown to attendees and then released online immediately after.

The Last of Us season 2 confirmed cast

Here's the official cast list for The Last of Us season 2 so far:

• Pedro Pascal as Joel
• Bella Ramsey as Ellie
• Gabriel Luna as Tommy
• Rutina Wesley as Maria
• Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
• Isabela Merced as Dina
• Young Mazino as Jesse
• Ariela Barer as Mel
• Tati Gabrielle as Nora
• Spencer Lord as Owen
• Jeffrey Wright as Isaac
• Danny Ramirez as Manny
• Catherine O'Hara as TBC

The first four actors reprise their roles from season 1, and they'll be joined in the major player category by No One Will Save You's Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, the second game's deuteragonist and season 2's primary antagonist. Per an Entertainment Weekly (EW) interview, Dever's Abby isn't as muscular as her videogame counterpart because, as co-showrunner Neil Druckmann said, "that doesn't play as big of a role in this version of the story because there's not as much violent action moment to moment. It's more about the drama. I'm not saying there's no action here. It's just, again, different priorities and how you approach it."

Dever is joined on the newcomers front by Beef star Young Mazino as one of Ellie's friends Jesse as well as Alien: Romulus' Isabela Merced as another of Ellie's companions (and girlfriend) Dina. Meanwhile, O'Hara's involvement has also been confirmed by HBO and, while we don't know who she's playing, she may be Joel's therapist or a close confidante that he discusses that season 1 finale moment with.

Wright was also revealed to be part of proceedings in May 2024, the Marvel voice actor reprising his role as Isaac Dixon, leader of the Washington Liberation Front and a key ally of Abby's, who he also portrayed in The Last of Us Part II. Further cast confirmations came last March (per Deadline) with Ramirez, Gabrielle, Barer, and Lord all signing on to play other members of the Washington Liberation Front.

Lastly, in a separate EW interview piece, Druckmann teased the inclusion of a character who's "talked a lot about in the game, similar to what we did with Frank in season 1, that is in this season. There's a very, very cool casting that I hope we can talk about soon". Don't leave us hanging for too long, Neil!

The Last of Us season 2 plot speculation

Major spoilers follow for The Last of Us season 1 and Naughty Dog videogame The Last of Us Part II.

Here's The Last of Us season 2's official logline: "After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind."

That's not a lot to go on but, based on The Last of Us Part II, plus what happened in the season 1 finale, I've got a good idea of what'll happen this season. I won't discuss major spoilers from the second game – I'm not that heartless – but there are some spoiler-less aspects I can discuss.

Firstly, season 2 won't be as long as its predecessor. In June 2024, co-showrunner Craig Mazin revealed The Last of Us' next chapter will only have seven episodes as that felt like the "natural breakpoint" for the story. Considering he and Druckman plan to tell The Last of Us Part II's story across two seasons, that seems as good a reason as any to make it episodically shorter than season 1.

Season 2, like The Last of Us Part II, is set five years after its predecessor, too, so Joel and Ellie have become established citizens of Jackson, the Wyoming town that the traveled to in order to find Joel's brother Tommy in season 1.

Things will take a turn for the worse between the pair, though. In season 1 episode 9, Joel didn't tell Ellie what actually happened at the Fireflies camp – i.e. that they were going to kill her in order to develop a cure for the Cordyceps infection. Ellie is completely immune to the disease, which is why the Fireflies were so keen to get their hands on her.

When Joel finds out, he massacres them to save Ellie's life. It's an understandable decision, especially after what happened to his own daughter Sarah in season 1's opening episode. Still, he's seemingly consigned humanity to continue its fight against the infection with his selfish actions and, as evidenced by the footage we've seen, he's still feeling guilty about not coming clean to Ellie.

Elsewhere, there are new intruders looking to avenge deaths from season 1, and one specific event will culminate in a catastrophic and shocking death (if you know, you know). Other characters will have to forge new alliances, there’s a new religious cult on the scene – the Seraphites – for Ellie and company to deal with, a new ex-Fireflies militia force called the Washington Liberation Front, and another terrifying group who enslave people called the Rattlers. All in all, our heroes are in for a stressful, violent, emotional, and much darker season.

If that sounds like season 2 will ignore the Infected in favor of human-on-human action, don't fret. Speaking to Variety in March 2023, Mazin and Druckmann said of the Infected – whose design was inspired by bean sprouts, the show's VFX animation supervisor told TechRadar – confirmed there'll be a greater variety of flesh-hungry monsters for our heroes and villains to worry about this season.

Just as season 1 expanded on the franchise's universe and characters, its follow-up will do likewise. Previously, Druckmann told TechRadar that "we couldn't have told this story in the game", the TV adaptation's timeline change was made to "help make the story more real", and the show's third episode allowed it to "go in a different direction" to what plays out in the games.

So, there's a precedent for Naughty Dog, HBO, and Sony Pictures Television (the show's three production companies) to make changes where necessary. Chatting to Deadline, Druckmann said the show's executive team is playing around with how much might change in the TV adaptation's next entry, teasing: "The moment-to-moment beats and characters, they might stay the same, they might change. We will do what needs to happen to that story as it transfers from one medium to another."

Adding to Druckmann's comments, Mazin also suggested we won't see every storyline from The Last of Us Part II in season 2 (more on that shortly). Finally, in November 2023, Druckmann confirmed season 2 will contain brand-new material not seen in the games, so there'll be some new content for long time fans to tune in for.

Will The Last of Us season 2 be the final installment?

While there are only two video games – Druckmann says Naughty Dog has a "concept" in mind for The Last of Us Part III, for what it's worth – HBO's TV adaptation seemed set to run for three seasons. Speaking to Deadline, Mazin confirmed a third season was in the offing, adding : "It [the second game] is going to be more than one season. There’s more story, so this show will not end with season 2 unless people don’t watch it and we’ll get cancelled."

More recently, HBO's Head of TV Francesca Orsi has hinted that The Last of Us' TV adaptation could last for four seasons. Does that mean future seasons could include storylines that are being discussed within Naughty Dog for the third game in the series? Maybe, but we won't know more for a long time yet.

For more Max TV-based coverage, read our guides on Euphoria season 3, House of the Dragon season 3, Peacemaker season 2, and Creature Commandos season 2.