The highly anticipated second season of The Last of Us is set to debut on HBO this April.

HBO has officially announced that the new season will premiere on Sunday, April 13, at 9 PM ET/PT, with simultaneous streaming availability on Max. The season will consist of seven episodes. To mark the announcement, the network has released new character posters featuring Joel, Ellie, and Abby.

Taking place five years after the events of the first season, The Last of Us Season 2 follows Joel and Ellie as they settle into a new life with Joel's brother, Tommy, within his community in Montana. This season will adapt the narrative of the acclaimed sequel, The Last of Us Part II, so fans of the game will recognize the story that is about to unfold.

Alongside the return of Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, the cast welcomes several new actors. Kaitlyn Dever joins as Abby, with Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, and Tati Gabrielle as Nora. Gabrielle is also set to star as the lead in Naughty Dog's upcoming game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.

View the new character posters in the gallery below.

The Last of Us Season 2 Character Posters

3 Images

The first season of The Last of Us was a major success for HBO. Developed by Craig Mazin, the creator of Chernobyl, and Neil Druckmann, the head of Naughty Dog studio, the series secured multiple Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and received five Primetime Emmy nominations. These included categories such as Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing.

Given the triumph of the first season, HBO is enthusiastically expanding the story. Francesca Orsi of HBO has strongly indicated that the series is planned to run for a total of four seasons. This suggests that the upcoming season will not cover the entire storyline of the second game.

Read our review of The Last of Us season 1 here.