‘The Last of Us’ season 2 set for release in April

Pedro Pascal as Joel in “The Last of Us.” Image: HBO

The second season of the hit series “The Last of Us” will be launched this coming April, as confirmed by co-creator, writer and executive producer Neil Druckmann.

Druckmann made the announcement at Sony’s press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The teaser for the Emmy-winning drama was also released on streaming platform Max’s YouTube channel.

The seven-episode second season is set five years after the events of the previous season, with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) drawn into conflict with each other, and with a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.

Aside from Pascal and Ramsey, also part of the returning cast are Gabriel Luna as Tommy and Rutina Wesley as Maria.

Joining the upcoming season as well are Kaitlyn Dever who will portray the role of Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, Danny Ramirez as Manny, Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, and Catherine O’Hara as a guest star.

“The Last of Us,” which is based on the acclaimed video game franchise, tells the story of survivors amid an outbreak of a mutated strain of the cordyceps fungus that turned almost all humans into aggressive creatures.

The series is written and executive-produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. It is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and is also executive-produced by Carolyn Strauss, Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Evan Wells with writer/co-executive producer Halley Gross.

“The Last of Us” will be streamed via Max, although the exact date of release has yet to be announced as of this writing.