HBO teases how many seasons The Last of Us will run for – and it's more than we expected

The Last of Us season 2 first look
(Image credit: HBO)

The Last of Us could run for as long as four seasons according to new comments from a HBO boss.

Francesca Orsi, EVP and head of drama at HBO, outlined possible future plans for the Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann-led adaptation in an interview with Deadline.

"We don’t have a complete or final plan, but I think it’s looking like four seasons," Orsi said.

While it's not set in stone, it appears the roadmap ahead for The Last of Us indicates that three more seasons is enough to wrap everything up.

As Orsi explained, "I wouldn’t want to confirm [four seasons], but it’s looking like this season and then two more seasons after this and we’re done.”

In case there was ever any doubt, that surely puts paid to the idea that The Last of Us season 2 will adapt the entirety of The Last of Us Part 2.

The 2020 game, which encompassed multiple playable characters and viewpoints as Ellie went on a wide-ranging revenge tour of America, is making up the basis of the upcoming season. What we don't know, however, is its endpoint this year – and whether it will stretch out past the events of the game into possible The Last of Us Part 3 territory.

Previously, Mazin told Deadline that the third season will be "significantly larger" than the seven-episode season 2, while "the story may require season 4."

Taking place years after the original season, The Last of Us season 2 features several newcomers, including Kaitlyn Dever's Abby, Isabela Merced's Dina, and Young Mazino's Jesse.

The series will air weekly on HBO from April 2025, though fans think they've already zeroed in on the exact release date.

For more, check out the upcoming video game movies headed your way very soon.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

Read more
Clicker and Ellie
The Last of Us season 2 trailer brings the heart and the horror back to Joel and Ellie
Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie in The Last of Us
Fans think they have worked out the exact The Last of Us season 2 release date, and we're convinced
Pedro Pascal as Joel in The Last of Us season 2 first look
The Last of Us season 2 release date, cast, plot, trailer, and more news
Pedro Pascal as Joel in HBO's The Last of Us
Neil Druckmann says The Last of Us season 2 will incorporate "pretty brutal" deleted material from The Last of Us 2: "I'm very excited for people to see it"
The Last of Us season 2 first look
The Last of Us season 2 release date revealed with new Ellie, Abby, and Joel character posters teasing "every path has a price"
best zombie games
"Don't bet on there being more of Last of Us": Asked about The Last of Us 3, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann says "this could be it"
Latest in Drama Shows
Adolescence
Peaky Blinders star Stephen Graham's new Netflix one-shot crime drama is out now, and it has a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score
Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple
Nicole Kidman’s hit Netflix show could be returning for another season, but she won’t be coming back
Poker Face season 2
First Poker Face season 2 trailer sees Natasha Lyonne team up with Yellowjackets, Wicked, and Orange is the New Black stars, sets a May release date
Catherine Sarah Hook and Zac Burgess in Cruel Intentions
A TV remake of a '90s cult classic movie has been canceled by Prime Video after only one season
A group of Men wearing armour during the TV show, Vikings.
Vikings creator is heading back to his Norse roots with this new historical drama on Amazon
Sam Worthington
Avatar star to lead Harlan Coben’s next gut-wrenching drama
Latest in News
Jurassic Park Survival
As Jurassic Park Survival, John Carpenter's Toxic Commando, and the Star Wars KOTOR remake remain MIA, Saber CEO promises "everything that we have talked about is still in development"
Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon Zero Dawn star Ashly Burch responds to Sony's controversial AI Aloy by pushing for actor protections: "You have to compensate us fairly, and you have to tell us how you're using this AI"
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f's ESRB rating has zero chill: "Faces ripped apart," "a character burned alive inside a cage," and "entrails and sinew displayed on serving platters"
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f writer says many of the franchise's female characters experience "a great deal of suffering," so he wants his protagonist "to be able to make her own decisions, for better or for worse"
Starship Troopers
District 9 filmmaker Neil Blomkamp is working on a Starship Troopers reboot that goes back to the original 1959 novel
Nova's helmet sitting among rubble
Jonathan Hickman will "revolutionize Marvel's galactic canon" in a new event that brings in the Hulks, Black Panther, Nova, and more