THE LAST OF US Season 3 - HBO Confirms a Long Wait Ahead
The Last of Us fans are all eagerly waiting to see what happens after that jaw-dropping Season 2 cliffhanger, but we’re going to have to brace ourselves as the wait is going to be long. HBO’s The Last of Us is officially on pause for a while, and Season 3 might not hit screens until 2027.
In a recent interview with Variety, HBO and Max content chairman Casey Bloys confirmed the news and explained why the delay is happening.
“The series is definitely planned for 2027. Craig [Mazin] is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season. It hasn’t been decided yet, and I’m following Craig’s lead on that.”
This uncertainty stems from the ambitious story the series is about to tackle, the most divisive chapter of the games. The creative team is wrestling with how to adapt the dense narrative of The Last of Us Part II, a challenge that’s even more complicated now that Neil Druckmann, the game’s creator and series co-creator, has stepped back from active involvement.
“Obviously, it was great to have Neil involved in the beginning,” Bloys explained. “The whole reason that I wanted to do Last of Us is after Chernobyl, I said to Craig, ‘what do you want to do next?’ And Last of Us was what he wanted to do. It was fantastic to have Neil involved.
“A lot of people don’t realize that Neil has a full-time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog. It’s a really big job that he’s got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that. But I believe he’s given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we’ll be in excellent shape. I’m not worried at all.”
Season 3 is set to adapt the section of the game that split the fandom in half… Abby Anderson’s story. Played by Kaitlyn Dever, Abby will take center stage as the show rewinds events to show Seattle from her perspective as a member of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF).
Her arc will dig into her motivations, her complicated past, and the brutal conflict between the WLF and the Seraphites, giving fans a deeper dive into the factions and their leaders than the game ever did.
It’s going to be really interesting to see how the audience reacts to this because it asks them to invest in the character responsible for killing Joel, the most beloved characters in the franchise. The showrunners have said they’re fully committed to this narrative gamble.
So, while it sounds like Season 3 is shaping up to be just as ambitious and emotionally devastating as fans expect, we’re going to be waiting a long time to see it.