The Last of Us season 2 not coming to HBO in 2023

The Last of Us season 2 is coming to HBO, but fans shouldn’t be expecting the show’s second season to arrive before the end of the year… or even in 2024.

HBO has been on quite the hot streak in the last few years debuting two of the biggest new series back-to-back within less than a year’s time.

First came House of the Dragon, the network’s first Game of Thrones project since the flagship show’s end years before which became a breakout hit for the network as expected. Then came the network’s bigger gamble, a live-action adaption of The Last of Us video game. While previous shows adapted from video games had failed, The Last of Us became a breakout success giving HBO yet another major win and breaking the video game adaptation curse.

A second season was quickly ordered by HBO and the network is eager to get the second season on the air. Sadly, the wait for season 2 is shaping up to be a long one.

With season 1 having aired in the early months of 2023, it should come as no surprise to know that the show’s second season is not coming before the end of the year and this was never an option on the table. While some shows on broadcast channels are designed to be able to take short breaks, a show such as The Last of Us takes much more time to produce which is why we always knew a long wait would be ahead.

The hope was that perhaps there could be a world in which season 2 might possibly be ready to debut in late 2024, but now even that is looking out of the question due to the fact that filming for the new season has yet to begin due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes.

The Last of Us season 2 is ready to film once the actors’ strike ends

Originally, it was looking like there was a chance that filming on the second season of The Last of Us might begin before the end of the calendar year. While star Pedro Pascal never gave a specific timeline, he had hinted to Collider that it was likely filming would begin this year on the second season of the show. Instead, production remains on hold due to the ongoing actors’ strike which prevents the cast from filming new materials for the show.

The bad news is that season 2 hasn’t yet begun filming and therefore the show is unlikely to return until 2025. The good news is that once the SAG-AFTRA strike comes to an end and a new deal is inked with the studios, filming will be able to begin.

“We’ve outlined all of season 2 and we’re ready to go as soon as the strike ends,” Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann revealed to Entertainment Weekly.

Showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed that season 2 had been outlined prior to the strikes, telling EW that the team was even able to submit the season premiere script before the WGA strike began in May. With the WGA strike now over, production on season 2 is back up and running with the writers working on scripts for the season so that filming can begin as soon as the actors are able to resume work.

This should allow the show to return sometime in 2025, which is further out than some might hope but better than the alternative which could be an even longer delay.