The Last Of Us Season 2 Won't Arrive Until At Least 2025

Fans of HBO's "The Last of Us" need to count the days until the arrival of the show's second season, as it sounds like it's going to be a very long wait. We're talking two years from now kind of long. So claimed HBO's head of drama Francesca Orsi, who has revealed that the show isn't expected to return until 2025. And that's assuming that the ongoing writers' strike (which has already delayed many productions) doesn't stretch on for months on end. If that happens? The wait could be even longer.

Orsi recently sat down with the folks at Deadline for a wide-ranging interview. During the conversation, the subject of "The Last of Us" season 2 came up, with the executive saying, "We were looking at 'The Last Of Us' for some time in 2025." Notice the word "were" in there, which might be doing a lot of work. Speaking further about the ongoing dispute between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), Orsi had this to say:

"While everything at this moment is pencils down, I'm hopeful that we can come to terms sooner than later. Otherwise we will have to assess what is the end of the [2024] schedule, what are the shows that are going to be delivered for 2025. At this point, those shows that I'm looking to air wouldn't necessarily be ready if this strike last six to nine months. So yes, that's a big question for us, but I think we'll cross that road once we come to it."

Craig Mazin ("Chernobyl") and Neil Druckmann, who worked on the "Last of Us" video games for Sony, headed up the series adaptation for HBO, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey starring as Joel and Ellie, respectively.

The "Last of Us" TV series proved to be a monster hit for the network as well as HBO Max (which has now been renamed Max). Undoubtedly, the top brass would like to see the show get back on track as soon as possible. However, even aside from the strike, it sounds like the intention was not to rush things. Maybe that has to do with Pedro Pascal's busy schedule. There could be a variety of factors at play.

The writers' strike, for the time being, looms large. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann can't get to work on the season 2 scripts until the strike is resolved. Speaking further about the second season, Francesca Orsi hinted that there will be some big casting announcements at some point, while also teasing that the creators will be taking a big swing, creatively speaking:

"There will be a couple of new pieces of casting, which I can't get into. And of course, there isn't much that we can go into on 'The Last of Us,' given that Craig can't really initiate in any meaningful way from a writing or casting standpoint. But he and Neil have a good sense of what it is that he's going to be taking on. We'll be moving the show from Calgary to Vancouver. All I can say is he's taking a big swing from both an entertainment standpoint, related to the clickers, but also just the more nuanced, complex character dynamic between our characters, Joel, Ellie, and beyond."

In adapting "The Last of Us: Part II," Mazin has already said that they will depart "radically" from the source material when necessary.

Look for "The Last of Us" season 2 in 2025 on HBO, assuming the plan sticks.