Is Pedro Pascal returning for The Last of Us season 3?

Viewers of the popular HBO show The Last of Us have been abuzz ever since the second season featured the shocking demise of favorite character Joel Miller, played by Pedro Pascal. The horrific death of Joel at Abby’s (Kaitlyn Dever) hands has fueled Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) revenge mission laying the dramatic groundwork for the remainder of the series. That said, in spite of Joel’s on-screen death mirroring the video game narrative, there is rising speculation that Pedro will be back next season.

Will Pedro Pascal come back for The Last of Us season 3? Joel's Destiny is a hot topic among fans?

Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, co-creators of the show, have been intentionally obtuse when questioned on the subject. In answering a question during a press conference, Druckmann teased the epic nature of what we can expect and how the other story is going to be really important coming back to Joel and Ellie and everything we’ve seen so far.

Mazin further fuelled speculation by teasing, “All I can say is we haven't seen the last of Kaitlyn Dever, and we haven't seen the last of Bella Ramsey, and we haven’t seen the last of Isabela Merced [who plays Dina], and we haven’t even seen the last of a lot of people who are currently dead in the story.”

This exciting line leads one to consider the possibility that even though Joel might be dead within the show, Pedro might re-emerge via flashbacks or similar story elements. The huge popularity of Pedro Pascal and his well-received performance as Joel Miller renders a total absence in subsequent seasons a hard sell for most fans. HBO also demonstrated a risk-taking nature with the direction of the show, even going so far as to kill off a key character such as Joel in the second season.

As the second season ended on a ‘Seattle Day One’ title card suggesting a possible realignment to Abby’s point of view, the creators admit they must keep developing the show. Whether Pedro will return in a full resurrection or only in powerful flashbacks is yet to be known, but this is certain: the creators are keeping viewers on their seats about Joel’s final destiny in The Last of Us universe.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.