The second season of HBO's zombie drama The Last of Us just wrapped up, leaving fans with lots of unanswered questions. Unfortunately, it'll be a while before we see what happens next. A few weeks ago, star Isabela Merced (Dina) guessed that filming on season 3 wouldn't begin until "next year," meaning 2026. A big complicated show like The Last of Us takes a while to film, especially if, as showrunner Craig Mazin predicted, it will be "longer" than season 2. All that means that we likely won't be seeing new episodes of The Last of Us until 2027, meaning we're in for a wait of at least two years.
Granted, Isabela Merced probably isn't as tapped into questions of scheduling as some of the producers. She could be mistaken, and filming will start sometime this year. That would definitely be best for fans who want to see what happens next.
For whatever reason, HBO is very slow to move when it comes to filming new seasons of TV shows, even for its most popular series. They're filming the third season of House of the Dragon right now, although filming didn't start until months after the season 2 finale aired last year. If HBO wanted to avoid long wait times between seasons, it would plan ahead and get cameras rolling on future seasons of big shows like The Last of Us and House of the Dragon faster. All we can do is sit back and hope they get a clue.
We know what's coming in The Last of Us season 3. Beware SPOILERS!
As for what fans are in for in The Last of Us season 3, all they do is consult the plot of The Last of Us Part II, which came out for the PlayStation 4 back in 2020. That game is divided into two halves: first we play as Ellie, who travels to Seattle on the hunt for Abby, who killed Joel. She spends three days in the city. Then, partway through, we go back in time and play as Abby, seeing what she was up to over those same three days.
That looks to be exactly what will happen in The Last of Us season 3. We'll go back in time a bit and see what was happening to Abby while Ellie and Dina were looking for her. We'll also see what happened right after the big cliffhanger at the end of season 2, when Abby (or someone) fired a gun, and we cut to black.
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