New York, New York - Following the global success of the video game and the first two seasons of the TV adaptation, The Last of Us has begun production on season 3.

The third season has been filming since the beginning of April, Variety has confirmed.

Anticipation is building among fans, as not only are familiar faces returning, but several new characters are set to cause quite a stir in the next installment.

In addition to Bella Ramsey as Ellie, viewers can expect to see Isabela Merced return as Dina, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, and Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.

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And that's not all – another popular character from the video game could be making his way into the show next season.

We're talking about Lev, who is played in the game by Ian Alexander.

As reported by Business Insider, the actor has already expressed interest in portraying the character on TV.

The story of the third season is once again closely based on The Last of Us Part II, as showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed in an interview.

This time around, the focus will be on Abby in particular, whose story will be given more depth.

Ellie, meanwhile, will continue to be driven by a burning desire to avenge Joel's death.

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Season 3 is set to be more extensive than the previous one and include more episodes.

Although it's still unclear exactly when the new episodes will be released, a start before 2026 is considered unlikely.

According to Craig Mazin, the story of The Last of Us is far from over, and fans can already look forward to another season after the third installment.