At the risk of being a total Debbie Downer when it comes to HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, this is not great news. In an interview with Variety, Isabela Merced (who plays Dina in the show) revealed that production for The Last of Us Season 3 has not started. In fact, production might only begin next year, in 2026.
In the very lengthy interview with Variety — which goes through a lot of Merced’s experiences on set and as a queer actor, which you should absolutely read — Merced stated that she didn’t know when production would begin for Season 3. “But it should be next year,” she concludes.
We already knew that the show got renewed for a third season before Season 2 even aired, but it might be a bit of a surprise to hear that production hasn’t even begun. I can see this being a point of frustration for fans. For starters, Season 2 will only have seven episodes. Presumably, Season 2 will end on a pretty exciting cliffhanger, if the game events are anything to go by. Cliffhangers are great and all, but if you end up having to wait another two years to see what happens next, that can be frustrating.
I’ve made my own personal complaints pretty clear as far as Season 2 goes. The short, seven-episode run doesn’t feel like it’s enough to cover the relevant character arcs. Both Abby and Ellie’s arcs have also been sanded off to make them more palatable for a mainstream audience. Having to wait another couple years for the conclusion of the Part II story just feels like rubbing salt in the wound.
Shorter seasons aren’t terrible, but only if there’s a shorter turnaround time between those seasons. For instance, Squid Game Season 2 also ended on a cliffhanger late last year, but guess what? Season 3’s only half a year away. That shorter turnaround time makes a huge difference.
There are things about Season 2 that I’ve really enjoyed as well. Isabela Merced’s performance as Dina, for instance, has been stellar. I’m also a huge fan of some of the changes, such as the attack on Jackson, which made that whole starting sequence so much more intense. The other character-specific changes I’m less excited about, including the weird background flesh-out HBO’s given Seth.
Either way, we don’t have concrete information on the release window for The Last of Us Season 3 just yet. We’ll provide more updates as they come our way.
The Last of Us is now available for streaming on Max.
