During their Consumer Electronics Show (CES) presentation last night, Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann officially announced that The Last of Us season two will debut this coming April, exclusively on HBO and streaming on Max.
The second season will consist of seven episodes, and while we don't have an exact premiere date just yet, we'd imagine the series returns sometime in mid-April, in the same release window Game of Thrones used to occupy during its run.
Season two will pick up five years after the events of season one, which concluded with Joel (Pedro Pascal) going on a rampage to rescue an unconcious Ellie (Belly Ramsey) from the Fireflies and then, in an effort to protect her, covering up the truth by telling her that making a cure was impossible and that raiders had raided the facility and forced them to flee.
It would appear as though Ellie has seen through his well-intentioned deception in the intervening years and the duo won't be on the strongest of terms when we catch up with them this Spring.
Fans of the acclaimed video game series will, of course, know what happens next, but it should be a thrill to relive the story of The Last of Us Part II, which was previously expected to take multiple seasons to adapt, although we don't have any recent updates on how far into the story this upcoming season will go.
In addition to Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones, Narcos) as Joel and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones, Catherine Called Birdy, The Worst Witch) as Ellie, the returning supporting cast consists of Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., True Detective) as Tommy and Rutina Wesley (True Blood, Queen Sugar, Hannibal) as Maria.
New cast members for season two include Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, Dopesick, Unbelievable) as Abby, Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Instant Family, Sweet Girl) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef, Proven Innocent, Blindspot) as Jesse, Ariela Barer (Runaways, Rebel, Atypical) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (You, The 100, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Nora, Spencer Lord (A Jazzman’s Blues, The Middle of X, Westworld) as Owen, Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, No Exit) as Manny, and Jeffrey Wright (Westworld, The Batman, The Hunger Games) as Isaac.
Catherine O’Hara (Schitt's Creek, Home Alone, Beetlejuice) is also slated to guest star in three episodes, but her role is being kept a mystery for now.
Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin, Peter Hoar, Kate Herron, Nina Lopez-Corrado, Mark Mylod, and Stephen Williams were the directors on season two.
Watch the new trailer below:
Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.