The Last Of Us Boss Hints At Season 4: 'There's No Way To Complete This Narrative' In Upcoming Third Season

It wouldn't be Last of Us finale time without showrunner Craig Mazin hinting that the upcoming season won't be the series' last.

The HBO drama's already-ordered Season 3 won't be enough to tell the rest of the story, Mazin recently told Collider. He also said there's a "decent chance" that the third season will be longer than the second, which will air its seventh and final episode Sunday at 9/8c.

"The thing about Joel's death" — which took place in this season's second episode (read recap) — "is that it's so impactful. It's such a narrative nuclear bomb that it's hard to wander away from it. We can't really take a break and move off to the side and do a Bill-and-Frank story," he said, referencing Season 1's standout standalone episode featuring guest stars Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett.

"I'm not sure that will necessarily be true for Season 3," Mazin continued. "I think we'll have a little more room there. But certainly, there's no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we'll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That's the most likely outcome."

If Mazin's comments sound familiar, it's because he and fellow showrunner/series creator Neil Druckmann said something similar about the show's trajectory in 2023, after HBO ordered the second season. Though The Last of Us Season 1 told the story laid out in Naughty Dog's 2013 video game, the executive producers indicated that the events of The Last of Us Part II would go beyond the then-already-ordered Season 2 by at least one season.

HBO renewed the dystopian drama for Season 3 in April, ahead of the Season 2 premiere. A Season 4 renewal has not yet been announced.

Do you want to see The Last of Us continue past Season 3? Hit the comment with your thoughts!