"The Last of Us" makers reveal details of the second season and hint at further seasons
Fans of "The Last of Us" series can rejoice. Showrunner Craig Mazin and game director Neil Druckmann reveal new information about the second season and tease a third and even fourth season.
The second season of the HBO hit "The Last of Us" is set to start in 2025. In an interview with Deadline, showrunner Craig Mazin and game creator Neil Druckmann reveal details about the upcoming episodes.
Source: HBO
Less episodes in season two, but more seasons
The second season will be even shorter than the first. Instead of nine episodes, there will only be seven next year. However, one of the episodes is expected to be feature-length. According to Mazin, the production of the second season will be much more complex than that of the first season: "The story [...] is much more difficult to produce. [...] We want each episode to feel like its own blockbuster".
The entire story of the first "The Last of Us" game from 2013 was told in the first season. The second season, on the other hand, will only cover a small part of the 2020 sequel "The Last of Us Part II", confirms Mazin: "The story material we received from the second game is far more extensive than the story material from the first. So right from the start, we had to think about how we could tell the story over several seasons".
Mazin and Druckmann have already planned a third season - but this has not yet been officially confirmed by HBO. However, a possible third season should definitely be significantly bigger than the first two seasons. It is very likely that a fourth season will even be needed to tell the story of the second game properly. Mazin says: "I don't see how we could tell the story that's left after the end of season two in just one more season".
Source: HBO
Faithful retelling with some liberties
In terms of content, the upcoming episodes will remain close to the original. However, the TV adaptation will again take the liberty of shedding more light on certain aspects of the brutal world of "The Last of Us".
A major point of discussion in the fan community is the fate of a popular character who only plays a minor role in the second game. Mazin does not want to reveal whether his storyline in the series will differ significantly from the game: "We will continue to do things our own way. We'll take our time to deepen the story. Of course, there will be some things that will be expanded, but which characters will be affected and how, we'll keep that to ourselves."
Source: HBO
There are currently no plans to extend the TV series beyond the end of the second game. The series is not intended to overtake the plot of the original material, as "Game of Thrones" did, for example. In the documentary on the creation process of "The Last of Us Part II", which was released in early 2024, Druckmann confirmed that there will "very likely be another chapter" in the story of "The Last of Us" games. However, a possible third game does not yet play a role in the development of the next three seasons. "Our focus is on the first two games," Druckmann confirms.
More information and pictures from the set
At the beginning of the year, the directors for the second season were already announced. Peter Hoar, who was responsible for perhaps the best episode of the last season ("Long, Long Time"), is returning as director. Showrunner Craig Mazin and game scoop Neil Druckmann will also be back in the director's chair. New to the cast are Mark Mylod ("Succession"), Nina Lopez-Corrade ("Perry Mason"), Stephen Williams ("Watchmen") and Kate Herron ("Loki").
In addition to returning actors and actresses from the first season, many new faces have already been signed up for season two. The role of the vengeful "Washington Liberation Front" warrior Abby will be played by Kaitlyn Dever ("Booksmart").
The role of Ellie's mate Jesse is played by Young Mazino ("Beef").
Jeffrey Wright ("The French Dispatch") reprises his role from the game in the TV series - he plays Isaac, the leader of the paramilitary organisation "Washington Liberation Front".
Source: Sony
Shooting for the second season began a few weeks ago. On X, recordings of the sets keep popping up - warning, spoilers!
My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.