The Last of Us Season 3 First Look Has Us Feeling Hopeful

Filming is finally underway on the upcoming third season of HBO’s The Last of Us, which is also believed to be the show’s last.

It’ll adapt Abby’s half of The Last of Us Part II, assumedly also dealing with the Santa Barbara portion of the story which features both Ellie and Abby in equal measure.

It’s hoped by fans that the third season will return the series to the glory days of that initial outing.

The first season of The Last of Us was met with critical acclaim but that acclaim tailed off during the second season which brought Ellie’s part of The Last of Us Part II to life.

While the series got off to a decent start, criticisms soon arose pertaining to the season’s pacing and strange dumbing down of Ellie in an arc where she’s supposed to be at her most formidable.

Abby’s half of the story is, at least for many, the stronger of the two so here’s to hoping that it retains more intensity than last year’s outing.

By all accounts, things look to be off to a promising start with a first look at filming having surfaced on social media.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew's Kyriana Kratter Joins As Lev

Footage shared by Twitter/X account TheLastofUsNews shows Kaitlyn Dever and Kyriana Kratter as Abby and Lev, respectively, walking across a derelict rooftop.

Of course, it’s impossible to predict the quality of the entire third season based on such a small glimpse at what it’ll bring us.

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That being said, Dever and Kratter look every part their characters - especially Kratter who joins The Last of Us as a new addition this season.

You can view the footage below.

Already, fans seem hopeful based merely on the game-accurate costumes and excellent set design.

“Peak excellence coming in,” remarked one fan.

“They..look..great?” added another, clearly in disbelief that we could officially be back.

“Can’t wait, love Abby,” read a comment.

Others pointed out that it looks as if Lev is as tall as Abby but personally, I don’t see that as an issue.

HBO’s version of this story has always made it clear that it’s not interested in portraying Abby as a physical terminator of a character.

The Last of Us’ third season will mark the first time showrunner Craig Mazin has handled things alone after franchise creator Neil Druckmann exited his role as co-showrunner after the second season.

It remains unknown whether this was due to creative differences or a desire to dedicate more time to his primary role as lead creative at Naughty Dog.

The Last of Us Season Three remains without a release date but is likely to air in early 2027 following filming throughout the majority of this year.