Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: the last of us

The Last of Us: Kaitlyn Dever Prepping for Season 3 Production Start

HBO's The Last of Us star Kaitlyn Dever is prepping to start Season 3 and is "excited to kind of take on a much bigger role in the season."

HBO's Bella Ramsey (Ellie) and Kaitlyn Dever (Abby)-starring series adaptation of The Last of Us experienced some changes heading into 2026. First, we learned that Neil Druckmann was departing the series ahead of the third season, with Craig Mazin taking over as sole showrunner. In December, the news broke that Danny Ramirez's character, Manny, would be recast, with Ramirez departing the series due to scheduling conflicts. That brings us to 2026, with Dever offering Deadline Hollywood a heads-up that she's preparing to return to production to begin filming Season 3.

"I'm getting mentally and physically prepped right now. I go up in a couple days, actually, to start prep over there. I'm so excited to kind of take on a much bigger role in the season," Dever revealed. As viewers saw at the end of the Season 2 finale, Ellie (Ramsey) and Abby (Dever) were in a life-or-death standoff, and the action then jumped back in time to confirm that the third season would tell Abby's story leading up to that moment. Regarding the series shifting the focus to her character, Dever shared that she believes viewers will like what they see. "The fans are really going to like it, I think, the shifting perspective onto Abby, getting some more context onto her storyline, and going back in time with this season. So, I'm very excited for the fans to see it," she said.

The Last of Us Season 3 Eyeing 2027; No Decision on Series End: Bloys

Last summer, we got an update and some insight into what the future could hold for the series from Casey Bloys, HBO and HBO Max content chairman/CEO, who spoke with Variety to discuss the Emmy Award nominations and update what's ahead. "Obviously it was great to have Neil involved in the beginning. The whole reason that I wanted to do 'Last of Us' is after 'Chernobyl,' I said to Craig, 'what do you want to do next?' And 'Last of Us' was what he wanted to do. That's what was most important to me, Craig's creative excitement about the show. It was fantastic to have Neil involved," Bloys shared regarding Druckmann's departure. "A lot of people don't realize that Neil has a full-time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog. It's a really big job that he's got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that. But I believe he's given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we'll be in excellent shape. I'm not worried at all."

Regarding how many more seasons the hit HBO series may run, Bloys shared that the series is expected to return in 2027. "Craig [Mazin] is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season. It hasn't been decided yet, and I'm following Craig's lead on that," Bloys added. As for the show's shifting character focus (as we saw during the second season with Pascal departing the series, and with the third season set to focus more on Dever's Abby), Bloys doesn't see that as a challenge from a marketing perspective when it comes to keeping viewers invested. "I think the title is obviously helped by the video game, and now the first two seasons is pretty well established. I kind of appreciate shows that take things and do a show from a different point of view," Bloys added.

"I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in 'The Last of Us' on HBO," Druckmann shared on the official Naughty Dog Instagram account last year, addressing his departure. "With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative." Druckmann added, "Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It's been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct, and write on the last two seasons. I'm deeply thankful for the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting 'The Last of Us' Part I and the continued adaptation of 'The Last of Us' Part II."

"It's been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO," Mazin shared in a statement about the news. "I couldn't have asked for a more generous creative partner. As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil's work in video games, I'm beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I'll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect. We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of 'The Last of Us Part II' to us, and we're just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in."

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