The Last of Us season 2 release date, cast, plot, trailer, and more news
Here's everything you need to know before the return of HBO's hit adaptation

The wait for The Last of Us season 2 is almost over. The hugely popular HBO show is set to return in just a matter of days, and we can hardly wait to see how Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann and co have adapted one of the best games of all time.
Unsurprisingly, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are returning as Joel and Ellie for what is sure to be one of the best new TV shows of 2025 – and they'll be joined by a bunch of fresh faces this time around, including Madame Web's Isabela Merced, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's Catherine O'Hara, and Booksmart's Kaitlyn Dever.
Below, we dive into who the newbies will be playing, as well as season 2's release date, plot, and more. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have been pretty loose-lipped in recent weeks, teasing new types of infected, Dever's performance, and more. With that, we're more excited than ever to step back into the Cordyceps-riddled US.
In this (mostly) spoiler-free guide, we pool together all the details released so far about the next chapter, from its release date and trailers to interesting fan theories and more. So scroll on to discover everything you should know about The Last of Us season 2.
The Last of Us season 2 release date
The Last of Us season 2 will release on April 13. The series will be taking over the Sunday night slot on HBO once The White Lotus season 3 comes to an end.
The wait for the second batch of episodes has certainly been a patience-testing one, given that once season 2 premieres, it will have been two years since season 1 aired. Fans based in the US will be able to watch the show on HBO and Max, while those across the pond in the UK can tune in through Sky and NOW. There will be seven episodes in total for season 2, which will roll out weekly.
The Last of Us season 2 trailer
Since season 2's premiere date is so close, it will come as no surprise that we've seen a bunch of trailers that tease what's in store.
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The first promo, which landed via Sky in September 2024, opens with Catherine O'Hara's original character Gail – who we didn't know the name back then – starting a timer before turning to address Pedro Pascal's Joel. Watch above.
"Well, do you want to start or what?" she says. "Let's try something different. You can't heal something unless you're brave enough to say it out loud. Say the thing you're afraid to say. Say it out loud no matter what it is, no matter how bad. What did you do?"
Other shots see Joel and Ellie in Jackson, where they bond over music, paralleled later with a scene players of the game will be all too familiar with: Ellie and Dina scene in the guitar shop. There are also plenty of infected in the clip, too; from a lone clicker stalking Ellie to a horde running in the snow. We also get our best look yet at Abby, played by Kaitlyn Dever, in what seems to be a flashback shot.
That's not all, either, as there are shots of the Seraphites, too, including a character who seems to be Lev, with "Feel her love" written on the wall. The trailer ends with Ellie screaming and Joel crying. If you know, you know...
The "official" trailer, which you can watch above, didn't arrive until early March 2025. Featuring a bunch of iconography from the games, like Joel's cracked watch and Ellie and Dina travelling on horseback, it's much more action-packed than the teasers shown previously. Check that out below...
The Last of Us season 2 cast
We're going to do our best to skip over major The Last of Us: Part 2 spoilers here, but suffice to say The Last of Us season 2 will feature a host of new characters opposite Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who will be back as Joel and Ellie.
During a press conference attended by Total Film, co-creator Mazin says of Ellie's transformation post-time skip: "We know what we're going to do in terms of costume and makeup and hair, but more importantly, we also know the soul and spirit of the actor… It will be the show that Neil and I wanna make, and we are making it with Bella. The only way we would ever, ever consider recasting Bella is if they said, 'I don't wanna work with you guys anymore.'"
Bella Ramsey has already gone on record stating that they are excited for "the Ellie and Dina story" – a budding romance between the two Jackson residents. They also told GamesRadar+ they were looking forward to working with the other "excellent" newcomers jumping on board.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ramsey explained that they are keen to explore "the complexity of her relationship with Joel" and how that gets decidedly more complex. "I'm looking forward to that, and the violence that ensues is thrilling in a way," Ramsey said.
Check out who's been confirmed so far below...
Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie
We don't really need to elaborate much on this one, seeing as fans will be all too familiar with Joel and Ellie from season 1. Their father-daughter relationship is set to evolve into something much more complicated in season 2, however, which is sure to have the pair spending much less time together on screen.
"Obviously a lot has changed over those five years. Ellie was 14 and now is 19. I think, in any teenager's life, that's always the formative years, so that definitely informed it," Ramsey explained during a recent press conference (via ScreenRant). "But there's obviously deeper reasons for their little rift. I didn't enjoy feeling estranged from Pedro within a scene. It wasn't a nice feeling."
"My mindset was grateful to be back. And yet at the same time, it's this experience, more than any other I've had, that is hard for me to separate what the characters are going through and how it makes me feel," added Pascal. "In a way that isn't very healthy. And so, I kind of feel their pain and I suppose I was in an unhealthy mindset."
Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
Fans of the source material had been desperate to know who is playing Abby since before season 1 even aired, and fortunately for them that was one of the first major announcements back in January 2024. Known for her roles in Rosaline, Booksmart, Unforgiveable, and No One Will Save You, the actor – who one of our writers believes will make for the perfect Abby – had been rumored to be involved for a while, having been a fancast for a live-action Ellie since the first game was released.
Druckmann reacted to the news on Twitter, writing: "Welcome to the TLoU fam, @KaitlynDever! Stoked to collaborate with you again!" He wasn't alone either as the game actor Laura Bailey also replied to the news. "Huge congrats, Kaitlyn! So excited to see Abby’s evolution in your performance! Let me know if you want a workout buddy."
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in early February 2025, The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann said that Abby looks a bit different from the games because the TV adaptation is focused more on the story, and less on the violence.
"There's not as much violent action moment to moment. It's more about the drama. I'm not saying there's no action here. It's just, again, different priorities and how you approach it. Kaitlyn has the spirit of the game in her. What I always loved about the idea was that you are going to continually be challenged as you were in season 1," he explained.
Isabela Merced as Dina
Isabela Merced is set to portray the role of Dina in The Last of Us season 2. She's described as "a free-wheeling spirit whose devotion to Ellie will be tested by the brutality of the world they inhabit." No spoilers here, but those familiar with the game will know she plays a big part in Ellie's life going forward.
Mecred is best known so far for Dora the Explorer in Dora and the Lost City of Gold, but she has some big projects on the horizon. She was also in Alien: Romulus (aka one of the best alien movies released in recent years) in 2024.
Creators Mazin and Druckmann said of her casting: "Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable. You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away. We couldn’t be prouder to have her join our family."
Young Mazino as Jesse, Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, Danny Ramirez as Manny, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, and Catherine O'Hara as Gail
Beef star Young Mazino is set to play Jesse. As HBO puts it, the character is "a pillar of his community who puts everyone else's needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost."
"Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him," co-creators Mazin and Druckmann said in a joint statement of his casting. "We're so lucky to have him, and we can’t wait for the audience to see Young shine in our show."
Elsewhere, Westworld's Jeffrey Wright is officially reprising his role as Isaac for The Last of Us season 2. In the video game sequel, Wright voiced secondary antagonist Isaac Dixon, a former marine turned leader of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF).
In terms of the other characters, Captain America: Brave New World actor Danny Ramirez will play Manny, Runaways star Ariela Barer will play Mel, Uncharted star Tati Gabrielle is Nora, and Riverdale's Spencer Lord is Owen. Catherine O'Hara rounds out the supporting cast as original character Gail, who many believe is based on the nameless Seraphite Prophet referenced in The Last of Us Part 2.
As it stands, we don't know who's playing Abby's pals Yara and Lev, which suggests they might not show up until The Last of Us season 3... provided there is one. (There no doubt will be given how successful the show is for HBO).
The Last of Us season 1 recap
This section contains major spoilers for The Last of Us season 1. If you've not yet caught up, turn back now!
As we go through in our more in-depth breakdown of The Last of Us season 1 ending explained, we left Joel and Ellie with the former having just "saved" the latter from the Fireflies HQ in Salt Lake City.
Despite journeying across the apocalyptic US to deliver Ellie, whose immunity had caught the Fireflies attention, to them, Joel took drastic, violent measures to get her back after he discovered the terrifying truth about what they had planned for her: become a lab rat in the hopes of inventing a cure to the Cordyceps infection. As Marlene coldly explains to Joel towards the end of the episode, the experiments would have undoubtedly killed Ellie, but what's one life if it means they could save countless more?
Unfortunately for Marlene, Joel didn't agree on the expendability of Ellie's life and he shot her dead and whisked the unconscious teen away, and Marlene wasn't the only one to feel his protective wrath in Saint Mary's Hospital that fateful day...
Just like the game, the episode closes with Joel lying to Ellie about the Fireflies intentions, claiming that they did their tests and weren't able to find anything of use, so he's driven her to Jackson so they can live out the rest of their lives as best and peacefully as they can. A move that will eventually cause tensions between the pair in season 2...
If you're wondering how closely the original ending aligns with that seen in the show, here are the biggest changes between The Last of Us episode 9 and The Last of Us: Part 1's finale.
The Last of Us season 2 plot details
Should The Last of Us season 2 follow in the footsteps of season 1 – following the video game fairly faithfully, while expanding on certain moments and quickening up the pace in other areas – then you'll want to start mentally preparing yourself for a far darker story.
In the trailer, we see what appears to be the first four-ish chapters of The Last of Us Part 2 – though it mostly seems like scenes from chapter one. But of course, it's a TV adaptation, so certain creative liberties are expected to be taken – which explains why we see Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) in the trailer, even though said character doesn't appear until the second half of the game, around Chapter 5.
The concept of the game is that the player controls both Ellie and Abby in two separate narrative arcs. It's hard to tell whether the seven-episode second season will stay mostly in Ellie's perspective (the first half of the game) or dip into the first chapter or two of Abby's arc. If Isaac is already being introduced, then we suspect it might be the latter.
As we noted in our The Last of Us 2 review, the video game very much deals with the cyclical nature of hatred and revenge – to say anything else would wade into spoiler territory, although we do have a The Last of Us 2 ending explained article, should you be unable to manage the wait for season 2 to start.
What we do know is that Ellie, Joel, and co won't just be fighting off clickers in season 2, with co-showrunner Craig Mazin promising new types of infected in the fresh batch of episodes. "I think we can say that we are dedicated to the idea that just as humanity is progressing and [Jackson] is getting bigger and they're bringing people in, the infected are also evolving," he told GamesRadar+ ahead of the premiere.
"So we're certainly going to see quite a few changes along the way to impress upon our characters. Oh, you think you've figured it out, you think you're good at handling the infected? The Rat King is something that anybody who has played The Last of Us Part 2 is traumatized by for so many reasons, count myself among them."
In the game, the main types of infected are clickers, of which we saw plenty of in season 1, bloaters, runners, stalkers, and shamblers. The Rat King is a particularly monstrous but unique variant that Abby comes face to face with in Part 2, as she
Will The Last of Us season 2 follow the same story as the game?
It looks exceedingly likely that The Last of Us season 2 won't cover the entirety of The Last of Us Part 2. In fact, the show's co-creators – Mazin and Druckmann – have already signalled that the events of Part 2 will require multiple seasons to properly bring the ambitious storyline of the second game to life. Druckmann also revealed that there's some "pretty brutal" cut content from The Last of Us 2 that's been adapted for this new season, so be ready for anything, even if you think you know what's coming...
As for how many seasons The Last of Us will need to tell the next part of Joel and Ellie's adventure, well, that remains to be seen. Although Mazin has teased that "four seems like a good number". HBO's Head of Drama Francesca Orsi echoed a similar sentiment in February 2025, saying, "We don’t have a complete or final plan, but I think it’s looking like four seasons."
From what we've seen in the trailer, it looks like it will get about halfway through, as there are some shots of Jeffrey Wright's Isaac, an Abby flashback, and someone who looks like they could be Lev.
Will The Last of Us season 2 include a time skip?
In The Last of Us: Part 2 video game, there is a five-year time skip. We shift from the climactic conclusion of The Last of Us: Part 1 to find an older Joel and Ellie settled into life in Jackson, Wyoming. The show is set to feature the same jump, even if, as Mazin suggests, other parts of the season are "radically" different from the game.
Want to get caught up on the show ahead of season 2? Here's how to watch The Last of Us TV show online for less. We also have a list of all the new TV shows heading our way if you are after more fresh titles.
Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.
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