Mark your calendars, The Last of Us season 2 has a premiere date!

Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO
Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO

Fans of The Last of Us rejoice, for a premiere date has been released for the upcoming new season! Mark your calendars because season 2 will be premiering on April 13!

Based on the popular, groundbreaking video game of the same name, The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, both of Game of Thrones fame, star as main characters Joel Miller and Ellie. Over the course of 9 episodes, season 1 introduced the world to a post-apocalyptic world due to a fungus that infects the human race.

As one of the more recent successful video game adaptations, alongside the likes of Fallout and Twisted Metal, The Last of Us exceeds at breaking the post-apocalyptic mold by focusing the entirety of the show on character-driven episodes. Thanks to a flawless cast, breathtaking cinematography, and ideal script writing, to name a few reasons, The Last of Us received countless award nominations and wins, including Pascal's 2024 SAG Award for Male Actor in a Drama Series.

Although season 1 seems to end with a rather conflicting yet conclusive ending, the story is far from over for both Joel and Ellie. After being tasked with transporting Ellie to the rebel group the Fireflies for unspecified reasons at the time, it doesn't take long for our smuggler with a dark past to develop a father-daughter relationship with the wise-cracking, swearing, orphaned Ellie.

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Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO

As the two traverse a world where the Fireflies battle government-run FEDRA, the infected lurk around any corner, raiders, and other groups of unsavory and dangerous survivors seek easy prey, Joel and Ellie's luck finally changes upon their arrival to Jackson, Wyoming. But perhaps what becomes more shocking than Joel reuniting with his younger brother Tommy and seemingly finding a place they can safely live, is Ellie's immunity and how her death could create a cure.

Joel's decision to save Ellie and, in the process, kill nearly every Firefly in the vicinity will come at a greater cost that season 2 will most likely confront. From what little we can gather of season 2 is that life at Jackson, while probably the best place anyone could ever live during such deadly times, isn't perfect as infected launch themselves against the walls, relationships are made and broken, and that is the least of everyone's worries.

Revenge is hungry and if Joel and Ellie aren't careful, they will walk right into its mouth. Audiences are on edge wondering if one of, if not the biggest moment, from the video games will indeed happen and this could make or break the rest of the show as a whole.

But what do you think will happen in season 2? Will you be watching The Last of Us when it returns in April?

Stream The Last of Us season 1 on HBO MAX.