Pedro Pascal might return as Joel Miller in The Last of Us Season 3
Move over, rom-coms. Pedro Pascal may soon put on Joel Miller’s rugged dad-bod again, Season 3 may veer away from Joel and Ellie to explore something new, but Pascal’s smile might still appear in flashbacks that remind us why we loved his tough-but-gentle survivor energy. Let’s go, with laughs, drama, and a dash of zombie fungus.
Joel’s fate was grisly at the end of Season 2, namely, that golf‑club beatdown at the hands of Abby, but audiences weren’t quite prepared to say “goodbye for good.” Now, show creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have confirmed that when asked if Pascal might return, they said, “Never say never.”
In other words, Pascal might reappear in flashbacks, or as part of a surprise post-apocalypse road trip with brother Tommy.
Season 2 already teased fans with Joel flashbacks- remember Episode 6? Pascal popped back in to have significant dad-daughter time with Ellie, making his emotional bounty a career-closing one. If Season 3 dives deeper into nostalgia, and it seems so, that gives Pascal lots of window dressing to appear as Joel even if he is technically gone.
In other words, Season 3 has been officially greenlit (thanks, HBO!), and it is turning the storytelling angle of the spotlight onto Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). We are returning to Seattle: Day One to explore her story, to explore those Seraphites, the W.L.F. militia, and possibly the reasons for her anger.
So while Ellie and Dina may have a side role, Abby North will shine as the main character, while Pascal’s Joel may lurk in the shadows of the flashbacks, as a wise-cracking big brother or brooding dad.
Season 3 is projected to start writing later in 2025, and then filming, based on previous production, could start around the middle of 2026. Therefore, Pascal may not be putting on Joel’s well-worn leather jacket until late 2026, or, say, 2027.
Showrunners have left little hints, and who can hardly resist Pascal’s charm and charisma? Although we have what looks like the central narrative of Abby’s story, flashbacks of Joel might also give us some of that unspecified emotional jolt we didn’t realize we missed.
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