The last in the present series of The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal has been aired, and so inevitably fans of the American post-apocalyptic drama are desperate for more.
A second series of the hit HBO show, which was based on a video game, was greenlit early on in the release of series one.
The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilisation has been destroyed.
Joel (Pedro Pascal) plays a hardened survivor who is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey) a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.
But what starts out as a small job becomes a brutal journey travelling across the US.
Here is what we know about the second series.
When will series two of The Last of Us be aired?
The release date has not been announced yet, but some commentators are suggesting it could be late 2024 or early 2025 at the latest.
According to Forbes “given that this is a prestige HBO production, we should not expect a second season any earlier than 1.5-2 years from now.
The publication added: “Pedro Pascal has said the second season might start to film this year, so the best guess is that we could maybe see The Last of Us season 2 in late 2024, or early 2025 at the latest. It’ll be a while.”
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What will season two be about?
Adapted from a video game of the same name, The Last of Us will continue in this vein. So season two will be adapted from the second game. But perhaps not in its entirety.
Showrunner Craig Mazin has previously said given how big the second game is, it’s likely it will take two seasons to adapt.
In February, he told The Wrap: “Obviously there’s a lot more story to tell that exists. The second game is much bigger than the first, the amount of story there is much larger. So the positive thing is it’s not like, oh, there’s just one more season. I think that there is more than one more season to do.”
The TV series was created by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin and is based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog.
Who starred in series one of The Last of Us?
The cast included:
- Pedro Pascal as Joel
- Bella Ramsey as Ellie
- Gabriel Luna as Tommy
- Merle Danbridge as Marlene
- Anna Torv as Tess
- Nico Parker as Sarah
- Murray Bartlett as Frank
- Nick Offerman as Bill
- Storm Reid as Riley Abel
- Jeffrey Pierce as Perry
- Lamar Johnson as Henry
- Keivonn Woodard as Sam
- Graham Greene as Marlon
- Elaine Miles as Florence
- Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen
Despite rumours suggesting Bella Ramsey’s role was being recast with an older actress for season two, publications have said Bella will return as Ellie for the second series.
Neil Druckmann told The Wrap: “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,’”.
“And even then we’re not sure we would grant her that. We might force her to come back this season,” he joked.
How can I watch it?
Series one was available on Sky Atlantic and was also available to stream on Now.
