Some Promising News About ‘The Last Of Us’ Season 2 Release Date On HBO

While we’ve always known it was going to be at least a two year gap between seasons of The Last of Us, now we have some news that is at least a little bit promising in terms of when it will return.

Speaking with HBO’s Casey Bloys, Deadline got him to confirm that The Last of Us season 2 (and White Lotus season 3) will have a release date in the first half of 2025. Specifically, by the end of May, within the first five months, as that’s the Emmy cutoff window, and they want both to compete there, as that did not happen this year.

HBO did decently at the Emmys this year, with 14 total, but that was well behind Netflix with 24 and FX with 36. Of the biggest series that won the most Emmys, Shogun, The Bear, Baby Reindeer and Hacks, Hacks is theirs. It’s somewhat ironic that so many of its larger productions missed major wins when Hacks, a much lower profile show, took him significant awards like Best Comedy and Best Actress in a Comedy for Jean Smart.

But the main reason for that is because this was a very “off year” for HBO. House of the Dragon season 2 is inside this year’s Emmy window, not last years. And now The Last of Us and White Lotus will be there as well. The Last of Us won 8 Emmys out of 24 nominations in 2022, and that’s something that they want to see repeated again.

We know that The Last of Us season 2 will only cover the first half of the second game, given its increased size from the first game, which includes a larger cast of characters and a full-on new co-lead in the form of Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby. Bella Ramsey will return as an older Ellie, even as she does still look quite young, and Pedro Pascal’s Joel will take, let’s say, a secondary role in this season.

It’s as of yet unclear as to whether The Last of Us will continue past season 3, given that it will run out of game source material. That said, it is not wholly impossible that Naughty Dog could get a third game, which they’ve indicated is in the cards someday, out within the next 4-5 years, again, given the long gap between seasons. Hell, they could even release simultaneously.

So, The Last of Us will have a release date by June 2025, though with a January 2023 release date, that’s going to be well over the two year mark, most likely. Sadly, such is modern streaming.

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