The Last of Us officially renewed for season 3

Season 2 of the HBO series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us is now just a few days away. The new batch of episodes are scheduled to begin airing on April 13th – and ahead of that date, HBO officially announced that the show has been renewed for a third season! Of course, there’s no word on when season 3 will premiere, because the second season has to have its seven episode run first.

Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming, Head of HBO Drama Series and Films, provided the following statement: “It can’t be overemphasized how proud HBO is for the outstanding achievement we believe the second season of The Last of Us is. Craig, Neil, Carolyn and the entire executive producer team, cast and crew have delivered a masterful follow-up and we’re thrilled to carry the power of Craig and Neil’s storytelling into what we know will be an equally moving and extraordinary third season.“

Craig Mazin, creator, executive producer, writer, and director, added: “We approached season 2 with the goal of creating something we could be proud of. The end results have exceeded even our most ambitious goals, thanks to our continued collaboration with HBO and the impeccable work of our unparalleled cast and crew. We look forward to continuing the story of The Last of Us with season 3!“

Neil Druckmann, creator, executive producer, writer, and director, had this to say: “To see The Last of Us brought to life so beautifully and faithfully has been a career highlight for me, and I am grateful for the fans’ enthusiastic and overwhelming support. Much of that success is thanks to my partner in crime, Craig Mazin, our partnership with HBO, and our team at PlayStation Productions. On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog, our cast, and crew, thank you so much for allowing us this opportunity. We’re thrilled to bring you more of The Last of Us!“

The story of the The Last of Us video game is set years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, transforming most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who’s living in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in the black market of this community. Together, they’ve become known by the local criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. On a mission to reclaim their stolen guns, they run into the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the zone. This mission soon becomes much more than they were prepared for. Here’s the season 2 logline: 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.

For the HBO series, Pedro Pascal plays Joel, who is “tormented by past trauma and failure. He must trek across a pandemic-ravaged America, all the while protecting a girl who represents the last hope of humanity”. He is joined in the cast by Bella Ramsey as Ellie, “an orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet and who struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging… as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world”; Anna Torv as Tess, “a smuggler and hardened survivor in a post-pandemic world”; Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy, “a former soldier who hasn’t lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world”; Merle Dandridge as Marlene, “the head of the Fireflies, a resistance movement struggling for freedom against an oppressive military regime”; Nico Parker as Joel’s daughter Sarah; Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, “a rebel in a quarantine zone”; Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill and Frank, “two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town”; and Storm Reid as Ellie’s best friend Riley.

The new season 2 cast members include Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) as Isaac, “the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group, known in the video game as the Washington Liberation Front, who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy,” Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus) as Dina, a romantic love interest for the Ellie character; Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart and No One Will Save You) as Abby Anderson, a major character from the video game who is described as being “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved”; Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick) as soldier named Manny, Ariela Barer (How To Blow Up a Pipeline) as young doctor Mel, Tati Gabrielle (You) as military medic Nora, Spencer Lord (Riverdale) as Owen, “a gentle soul trapped in a warrior’s body,” and Young Mazino of Beef as Jesse, “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.” (Jesse also happens to be Dina’s ex.) Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara is also in there, in an unspecified role, as are Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix), Alanna Ubach (Euphoria), Ben Ahlers (The Gilded Age), Hettienne Park (Hannibal), Robert John Burke (RoboCop 3), and Noah Lamanna (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds). Merced said Dever is “one of the most talented actors I’ve ever worked with.”

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