The Last Of Us Is Officially Switching Main Characters

Published Sep 16, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

In a recent interview with Deadline, HBO boss Casey Bloys confirmed that The Last of Us season 3 is on track to be released in 2027, and that showrunner Craig Mazin is planning it as the final season. After season 2 adapted half of the second Last of Us game, season 3 will adapt the rest of it. It made sense to split The Last of Us Part II into two seasons, because it’s basically two games rolled into one.

For the first 10 or so hours, you play as Ellie, massacring her way through Seattle in a relentless rampage to find Abby and exact revenge for Joel’s death, all over the course of three grueling days. Then, at the game’s midpoint, we switch to Abby’s perspective and do the same three days from her perspective. Just when you think the game is wrapping up, you realize you’re just getting started. It might be the greatest twist in gaming history; by forcing us to walk a mile in our enemy’s shoes, we experience the “both sides” argument firsthand.

In its season 2 finale, HBO’s The Last of Us confirmed it was adapting this twist faithfully into the TV series. Season 2 ended with Abby catching up to Ellie at the theater and holding her at gunpoint, then flashed back to Abby waking up at the Wolves’ base three days earlier. In season 3, The Last of Us is switching to a new main character.

The Last Of Us Season 3 Will Show Us Abby's Perspective

Liane Hentscher / ©HBO / Courtesy Everett Collection

Early in The Last of Us season 2, after Joel was brutally murdered, Bella Ramsey took over from Pedro Pascal as the series lead. Ellie spent the next five episodes ruthlessly hunting down Joel’s killer, Abby, and lost herself in the process. In season 3, The Last of Us will switch to yet another new protagonist: Abby herself. Switching to Ellie’s perspective after Joel died made sense, but switching to Abby’s perspective of Ellie’s story might ruffle some feathers.

There was certainly a vocal minority of gamers who refused to play as Abby, and there might be a few TV viewers who refuse to watch a show starring Joel’s murderer. But the genius of this story is that there are no good guys or bad guys. Once you’ve walked a mile in Abby’s shoes, you can see that, from her perspective, Joel is the villain. Everyone in this story is a flawed human being, with both redeeming qualities and unredeeming qualities, and they all deserve empathy, no matter what side they’re on.

Since it can’t literally put the audience in Abby’s shoes, The Last of Us season 3 might struggle to get viewers to empathize with Joel’s killer. But Kaitlyn Dever is one of the greatest actors working today, and she previously made us sympathize with a monster in the alien invasion chiller No One Will Save You, so I’m sure she can pull it off.

The Last Of Us Season 3 Will Eventually Switch Back To Ellie's Perspective

In the early stages of development, it was unclear whether Mazin was planning to adapt the rest of Part II into one more season or stretch it to two. The latter would’ve followed Abby through Seattle for a season, then dedicated a whole separate season to the epilogue set in Santa Barbara, where we switch back to Ellie’s point-of-view.

It would’ve been interesting to see The Last of Us expand that relatively brief epilogue into a full season — there’s a lot to flesh out on the farm — but, realistically, there’s only about two or three episodes’ worth of material in that section of the game. At that point, Dever will take a step back and Ramsey will resume their place as The Last of Us’ series lead ahead of Ellie and Abby’s final showdown.

Source: Deadline

The Last of Us