HBO renewed The Last of Us for a third season before season two even came out. That being said, it seems like we’re going to have to wait years to see what happens after that big cliffhanger. And things look even more murky now that Neil Druckmann has left the show. Here’s everything we know about The Last of Us season three — the when, and most importantly perhaps, who.
When will they start filming?
Never mind that, when are they going to write the dang thing? Series co-creator Neil Druckmann announced he was leaving The Last of Us on July 2. “With work completed on Season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on Season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects,” he said in a statement on the Naughty Dog Instagram. So there’s been no meaningful work on season 3? Yikes.
In a press conference May 23, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who was still with the show at the time) said they still didn’t know how much Ellie, Dina, Tommy, and Jesse will be in season three, which indicates they probably haven’t finished — or possibly even started — writing it. Bella Ramsey says they haven’t seen scripts yet, backing up this theory. “I haven’t seen any scripts, but yes, I do expect that,” Ramsey said. “I think that I’m going to be there, but not a whole bunch. We’ve had conversations about that. I sort of have a rough idea of what it’s going to be, but I can’t tell you.” Mazin knows it’s time to get the lead out. “It’s getting harder to make, because every episode gets big,” he told Variety. “You don’t want to wait four years for a 17-episode finish, or whatever it is.”
It’s Abby’s time to shine
Just like in the game, this next season of The Last of Us will be a perspective flip. Instead of following Ramsey’s Ellie, season three will be all about Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby. Dever is currently filming Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. But once that wraps, maybe it’s time for some zombies?
At a FYC panel on June 10, Neil Druckmann confirmed that Dever would be the protagonist of The Last of Us season three. “I think it was good to go on that journey to end up at HBO, end up at a place that leaned into those controversial decisions,” he said, referring to Joel’s death near the beginning of season two. “But the decisions are just what the story required, and even now, it’s like I can’t believe that they let us structure the series in this way. Meaning like we just ended season two, and season three is going to be starring — spoiler alert — Kaitlyn.”
The wettest season yet
At that same FYC panel, Mazin and Druckmann said season three would be more The Way of Water and less Fire & Ash, to put it in Avatar terms. “It’s more of a water season than a fire season,” Druckmann said. Mazin backed him up, saying, “It’s a wetter season than a hotter season.” And anyone who plays video games knows, water levels are a pain in the butt.
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