The Last Of Us brings back surprise familiar face as Part 2 set to be expanded

The Last of Us is expected to return to HBO in mid to late 2027 with the show’s third season exploring the remainder of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II.

That should include both Abby’s portion of Seattle and the events of Santa Barbara; the latter was once potentially tipped to spill over into a fourth season, but it’s been suggested that Season 3 may be the show’s last.

Abby’s side of events is arguably the game’s most entertaining, with fans surely hoping that the hotel descent, Rat King encounter, Scar island attack, and the sky bridge all feature.

The upcoming series will grant us more time with the likes of Manny, Owen, Mel, and Nora while introducing Yara and Lev.

Returning characters, like Ellie and Tommy, are expected to take more of a backseat, but it has now come to light that one familiar face will be unexpectedly appearing.

Young Mazino appears to have teased that he’s returning as Jesse in Season 3 of HBO’s The Last of Us as per some new images posted to Instagram.

Please note, spoilers for The Last of Us’ second season lie ahead.

Tommy and Jesse’s arrival in Seattle is likely to be featured in Season 3

Jesse, as you’ll likely remember, was shot by Abby in the closing moments of the show’s second season at Ellie and Dina’s makeshift base at the cinema.

Season 3 will go back, just like the game, and recount what Abby got up to during those same three days in Seattle that we’ve already seen from Ellie’s point of view, culminating in the continuation of that cinema encounter.

Notably, however, Jesse does not appear in the game during Abby’s portion of events - and given that he dies in Seattle, we know he’s not a part of the Santa Barbara segment of the story.

HBO

Young Mazino posted a picture of himself on horseback to Instagram which eagle-eyed Reddit user monsieurxander spotted to be taken at the same ranch the cast used for horse training ahead of Season 2.

“Young Mazino (Jesse) posted an Insta story of him riding a horse in a location that's easily identifiable as The Virtue Studio Ranch (where all the actors did horse training for Season 2),” they began.

“The same week Gabriel Luna (Tommy) posted videos of himself riding a horse there. Also it looks like he visited The Bridge Studios, where TLOU's production office is.”

Luna’s presence is less of a mystery. Tommy has a run-in with Abby and Manny during day three of Abby’s Seattle events, plus he’s a key part of the farmhouse scene ahead of Ellie’s journey to Santa Barbara.

Fans have taken to wondering where Jesse might have had an encounter, however, with Abby’s so-called Salt Lake Crew as clearly that must be what the series is setting up.

“Don’t Jesse and Tommy run into some of the WLF at some point before they meet up with Ellie and Dina? We’ll probably be seeing that,” suggested sexandliquor.

“I think we’re gonna see Tommy and Jesse leave Jackson in Season 3, and unlike the game, Tommy will probably talk to Maria before he goes,” added senorintergalatic50.

“This is more than likely before they found Ellie and Dina but I would not be mad one bit if they kept Jesse alive,” said a hopeful obsessstressdepress.

It’s unlikely that writers will u-turn Jesse’s death, but it’s clear that fans are thrilled to see more of Mazino onscreen as he undoubtedly did a brilliant job at bringing Jesse to life.

READ MORE: 5 Games To Play While The Last of Us Part 3 Is Nowhere To Be Seen

Season 2 of The Last of Us wasn’t as rigid as The Last of Us Part II in terms of its structure, regularly offering brief glimpses of what Abby and the WLF were up to.

Arguably, this didn’t help the series in any way, with the game having a much stronger pay off. Even still, it’s now reasonable that the same will happen in reverse.

For years, fans have been begging Naughty Dog for a DLC charting Tommy’s arrival in Seattle and while that likely won’t come our way, at least HBO looks set to fill in the gaps with some bonus Jesse content too.