‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Is Shorter Than We Expected
This story contains spoilers from the season 1 finale of The Last of Us but not the video game The Last of Us Part II. You’re safe. (For now.)
As we gear up for The Last Us season 2, creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin are finally ready to share some more hints for the roadmap ahead. While season 1 of the post-apocalyptic HBO drama covered the entire first video game, the second and most recent game will receive multiple seasons. For Last of Us fans, that's good news! More of the show we love—and more of Pedro Pascal’s new mullet.
But with the fantastic news of four (!) potential seasons down the pipeline—more on that below—the showrunners are also rolling out a "less is more" approach with season 2. According to Mazin and Druckmann, season 2 will only consist of seven episodes when it finally premeires in 2025. For reference, that's three episodes less than season 1. “The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons,” Mazin told Deadline. “When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”
Thought further seasons may not arrive until 2017 and beyond, it's clear that the success of season 1 demanded the showrunners to think outside of the box for the show's potential longevity. "One thing is absolutely for sure, I don’t see how we could tell the story that remains after Season 2 is complete in one more season,” Mazin teased. "We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that—as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television—season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require season 4."
Still, Mazin and Druckmann do not want to follow in Game of Thrones'controversial footsteps by goinging beyond the source material. Speculation surrounding a third Last of Us game in the near future may help the series continue to season 4, but only Druckmann can confirm news of that magnitude. “Our focus is the two games,” Druckmann tells Deadline, for now. “There’s quite a bit of material there that we’re taking our time with, and we’re looking at each piece individually to make sure it’s got its own arc, its own journey that the characters go on, but there is a grander plan that ties all the seasons together.”
Those who know exactly what goes down between Joel and Ellie in the second installment understand the major ramifications to come, but we won't spoil anything just yet. “If that does take place in the show,” Ramsey told Esquire in our cover story on Pascal, referencing a particular plot line, “I don’t know that I’m emotionally ready for it.”
In the first season of the HBO series, the unlikely duo of Joel and Ellie set out on a cross-country trip to find a cure for a deadly fungal infection that turns victims into zombies. (We’re simplifying, we know.) The Last of Us proved to be a smash hit—even setting viewership records during its 2023 airing. The series also managed to keep fans of its source material relatively happy with a faithful retelling of its dark, emotional story.
According to HBO chief Casey Bloys, the network isn’t eyeing a release for season 2 until 2025. Still, there’s a lot to look forward to between now and then. Check out everything we know about The Last of Us season 2 below.
Is Anyone New Joining the Cast of The Last of Us Season 2?
Yes. HBO has officially locked in the actors for the second season’s most important players: Abby, Jesse, and Dina. Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick) is officially on board as Abby—aka the most influential member of The Last of Us Part II. Though we won’t spoil anything here, just know that fans of the video game who are aware of what lies ahead have been eagerly awaiting this announcement. We’ll leave you with a short teaser from HBO that describes Abby as “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.”
According to Deadline, Dever emerged as the front-runner after the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike back in November. “Our casting process for season 2 has been identical to season 1: We look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material,” co-creators and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said in an official statement. “Nothing matters more than talent, and we’re thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro, Bella and the rest of our family.”
But that’s not all. Two other major players have been cast for season 2. Young Mazino (BEEF) was announced as Jesse, and Isabela Merced (Madame Web) will play Dina. Jesse is a selfless member of the duo’s new community, according to HBO, while fans of The Last of Us Part II will recognize Dina as Ellie’s eventual love interest. (Merced also starred alongside Dever in the Shakespearean film Rosaline in 2022.) Speaking about casting Mazino, the Last of Us co-creators stated that he is “one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him.”
One more for the road: Catharine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek, Home Alone) will join season 2 in an undisclosed role. Even fans of the video game are stumped on this one, but we’re excited to have her!
Who Will Direct Season 2?
To tell the next shocking chapter of the story, The Last of Us has assembled a killer lineup of directors. Alongside Druckmann and Mazin, the series has picked up recent Emmy winner Mark Mylod (Succession), Kate Herron (Loki), Nina Lopez-Corrado (Perry Mason), and Stephen Williams (Watchmen), Deadline reports. Peter Hoar, who directed season 1’s beloved third episode, “Long, Long Time,” will also return.
What Will Happen in Season 2?
Of course, season 2, like season 1, will have a clear road map to follow: 2020’s divisive The Last of Us Part II. The sequel has even more material to cover than its predecessor—which compiled all of its events into the first season’s nine episodes. “This should be fairly obvious to anyone by now, but I don’t fear killing characters,” Mazin revealed to Esquire. “But the important thing to note is that neither Neil nor I feel constrained by the source material."
Mazin and Druckmann hope that the remainder of the show will have something for anyone who watches—from newcomers to devoted fans of the video games. If you need reassurance that the HBO series will successfully pull off any changes to the game, just look at episode 3’s story of Bill and Frank, or even the flashback scenes of Ellie and Riley from episode 7. “We will present things, but it will be different,” Mazin told Variety. “Sometimes it will be different radically, and sometimes it will be barely different at all. But it’s going to be different, and it will be its own thing. It won’t be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil and I want to make.”
According to our 2023 interview with Pascal, the adaptation will remain true to the game in season 2 “like entirely, I think.” The actor added in Esquire’s accompanying “Explain This” video that “it wouldn’t make sense to follow the first game so faithfully only to stray severely from the path.” And on the Sundance Film Festival red carpet for the premiere of his film Freaky Tales, Pascal told Deadline that the showrunners are “always going to find ways to build on the incredible source material that they have, and surprise us with how they can use that material in a different format like a television show.” Still, the leading man maintained that he “wouldn’t want to spoil it for anybody, and the truth is, I don’t actually have all of the information as of yet.”
What About Beyond Season 2?
Well, even though the series plans to use much of the plot of The Last of Us Part II, there’s a big question about whether it will end after just three seasons. What happens when HBO runs out of material? Will Mazin and Druckmann start dreaming up new plot points to finish the TV series, à la Game of Thrones? It’s a tough choice, especially since Druckmann and his video-game company, Naughty Dog, are also busy with the next installment in the Last of Us game franchise.
“Our plan is to do it not just for one more season. We should be around for a while,” Mazin told a panel in Las Vegas, according to Deadline. Earlier, he told IndieWire, “Even though we were greenlit for a season of television, Neil and I felt like we can’t just make a season of television without considering what would come after. There is more The Last of Us to come. And I think the balance is not always just about within an episode or even episode to episode but season to season.” That includes, potentially, the announcement of a third Last of Us video game.
That’s all we’ll say about that! In the coming months, Esquire will break down even more information about how the HBO series will adapt the franchise’s brutal second entry. For now? Just enjoy the good news: Clickers will be sniffing you out well beyond 2025.
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