The Last of Us season 3

Main

Kaitlyn Dever (left), Tati Gabrielle (center), Ariela Barer (right), and Spencer Lord were promoted to series regulars for the third season alongside newcomers Michelle Mao and Kyriana Kratter.^[1][2]

• Kaitlyn Dever as Abby,^[3] a Washington Liberation Front (WLF) soldier who has her worldview challenged after killing Joel for her father's death^[4][5][6]
• Bella Ramsey as Ellie,^[7] a 19-year-old who is immune to the Cordyceps infection and is seeking revenge for the murder of Joel^[8][9]
• Gabriel Luna as Tommy Miller,^[10] Joel's younger brother. A former member of the revolutionary group Fireflies, he maintains idealism in hoping for a better world.^[11][12]
• Isabela Merced as Dina,^[13] Ellie's girlfriend and Jesse's ex. She is a freewheeling spirit with a loyalty towards Ellie, which is challenged by the world's brutality.^[14]
• Young Mazino as Jesse,^[10] Dina's ex and a leader in Jackson whose selflessness sometimes comes at a cost.^[15] He values its sense of community and works hard to ensure it is not lost.^[16]
• Spencer Lord as Owen,^[17] a WLF member and former Firefly.^[6][18] He is a gentle person whose physical strength forces him to fight enemies he does not hate.^[19]
• Tati Gabrielle as Nora,^[17] a WLF military medic and former Firefly who has difficulty accepting her past behavior^[6][18][19]
• Ariela Barer as Mel,^[20] a former Firefly and Owen's girlfriend.^[18] She is a doctor in the WLF committed to her role while struggling with the realities of war,^[6][19] reluctant to hurt others.^[21]
• Michelle Mao as Yara, a member of the Seraphites. She is Lev's sister who meets Abby on her journey.^[2]
• Kyriana Kratter as Lev, a member of the Seraphites. He is a 13-year-old transgender boy and Yara's brother.^[2]

Recurring

• Jeffrey Wright as Isaac Dixon,^[22] the ruthless leader of the WLF and a former high-ranking sergeant for the Federal Disaster Response Agency (FEDRA).^[6] The WLF face a war in their pursuit for liberty.^[23] Wright reprises his role from the video game.^[23]
• Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as Manny,^[24] a WLF member and former Firefly.^[6][18] A loyal soldier who fears failing his friends, he maintains a jovial attitude despite the pain of his past.^[19] Danny Ramirez portrayed the character in the second season but was recast due to scheduling conflicts.^[25]
• Jason Ritter as Hanley, a WLF soldier. Ritter previously had a cameo appearance in the first season as a clicker.^[1]
• Patrick Wilson as Jerry, Abby's father whom Joel killed.^[1] The character was briefly portrayed by Darren Dolynski in the first-season finale.^[26]

Guest

• Clea DuVall as a member of the Seraphites, a religious group based in Seattle^[27]
• Li Jun Li as Miriam, a member of the Seraphites and Yara and Lev's mother^[28]

Development

Craig Mazin (left) remained as the sole showrunner of The Last of Us's third season after the departure of Neil Druckmann (right), who wrote and co-directed the video games.^[29]

HBO renewed The Last of Us for a third season on April 9, 2025, several days before the premiere of the second season.^[30] The season partly covers the second half of the 2020 video game The Last of Us Part II,^[31] and is set to be longer and "significantly larger" than the second season.^[32][33] Co-showrunner Neil Druckmann, who wrote and co-directed the games, stepped away from his creative duties on the series in July 2025 to focus on his work at Naughty Dog, primarily directing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet‍;^[34] Craig Mazin remained as sole showrunner.^[29] He plans to direct the premiere to set the season's tone,^[33] inspired by Noah Hawley's work on Fargo,^[35] and hopes to direct another episode if he has time.^[33] Other directors include Vincenzo Natali.^[36][37]

The series is a production of Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, the Mighty Mint, and Word Games, with Mazin, Druckmann, Carolyn Strauss, Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O'Connor, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Evan Wells serving as returning executive producers.^[30] Halley Gross, who co-wrote Part II with Druckmann and worked on the second season as writer and co-executive producer, was named an executive producer in May 2025.^[38] The season is produced by Leann Stonebreaker.^[39] HBO's Casey Bloys indicated that the third season would likely be the last.^[40][41] The series's narrative is not set to overtake the games.^[32]

Casting

Kaitlyn Dever was told of the shift to Abby's perspective when she got the role for the second season,^[3] and Danny Ramirez, who played Manny in the second season, was told about the character's significant third-season presence when auditioning;^[24] he departed the role in December 2025 due to scheduling conflicts,^[25] recast with Jorge Lendeborg Jr. in February 2026.^[27] The season is set to show more of Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) and his leadership style,^[22] while Ellie (Bella Ramsey) has a smaller role than previous seasons due to the perspective shift;^[7] Gabriel Luna found the shift interesting as his character, Tommy, "becomes kind of like the boogeyman to these other people" after being a hero for the first two seasons.^[43] Catherine O'Hara had been set to reprise her role as Gail before her death in January 2026.^[44][45]

Clea DuVall's casting was announced in February.^[27] A casting call was distributed, seeking background performers to portray archers, blacksmiths, chandlers, farriers, and potters (with male actors willing to have shaved heads) from May to July 2026.^[46][47][48] In March, Ritter and Wilson's casting was announced, alongside Barer, Gabrielle, and Lord's promotion to series regulars,^[1] followed by Mao and Kratter's casting. A large casting call was held for Lev, featuring actors of several backgrounds.^[2] Li's casting was announced in April.^[28]

Writing

A writers' room for the third season was opened in late February 2025.^[50] Mazin, Druckmann, Gross, and Bo Shim were joined by Ryan James, who worked on the games, and Alexandra Cheng, Mazin's second-season writing assistant.^[49] Mazin had not started writing the season by April, planning to begin after the second season aired.^[51] Druckmann, Gross, and Shim stepped away from the writers' room by July,^[34][49] shortly before full work began,^[52] and Mazin had started writing by August, set to take several months.^[33] Ramsey had seen the scripts by January 2026.^[53] The season is set to feature more action sequences, continuing a trend from the second.^[54] Druckmann hoped it would be "as deeply faithful" to the games as the first season.^[52]

The series shifted to Abby's perspective in the second-season finale; the third season follows her story,^[55][56] as well as those of the characters around her, like Manny and Isaac.^[22][24] Mazin thought the change was risky but felt HBO executives "understand that this show is going to be a different show every season".^[57] The writers considered interlacing Ellie and Abby's stories throughout the seasons but Mazin wanted to maintain "the genetics of how this story functions".^[57] He thought they were "breaking quite a few rules" of television but felt "that is the point" of the series, reinforcing that the concept of protagonists and villains is inherently flawed.^[58] Druckmann said, like with the game, the third-season context of Abby's perspective is necessary before her confrontation with Ellie continues.^{[59]: 50:53}

Filming

Filming took place in Maple Ridge (left) and Downtown Vancouver (right) from March 2026.^[60][61]

Principal photography for the third season, under the working title Calm Current, began in British Columbia on March 2, 2026.^[39][62][63] Dever traveled to Canada for pre-production in late January.^[64] Mazin and Natali directed from March.^[36] A large outdoor set was constructed in Maple Ridge in March, with weathered structures, boats, and blue screens; some suspected it may be used for Haven, the Seraphites' island settlement.^[60] Following preparation on March 22–30, filming took place in Gastown from March 30 to April 1,^[61][65][66] featuring Dever and Kratter on rooftops on March 30,^[42] some scenes in a laneway with simulated gunfire,^[65] and a scene involving a military convoy on April 1;^[66] nearby streets were closed for filming with the presence of the Vancouver Police Department, and cleanup took place on April 2.^[65][66] Filming of a WLF military convoy took place in New Westminster on April 8,^[67][68] followed by production inside the former Hudson's Bay department store from April 9–10 after a week of preparations, followed by cleanup from April 13–14.^[69][70] Production returned to Gastown overnight from April 24–25, prompting traffic closures.^[71][72] The season's production is set to conclude on November 27.^[39][62][63] The WLF base—partly constructed for the second-season finale but mostly created using visual effects—is set to be built for the third season, based on Lumen Field.^[73]