HBO has confirmed The Last of Us season 2, offering fans another chapter from Naughty Dog’s groundbreaking video game series. Season one concluded with Joel making an unpopular choice to save Ellie by giving up the Cordyceps vaccine and saving himself at any cost.
Fans have high hopes that Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann will remain true to the video game plotlines for future seasons of Survivor, such as when they battled with religious extremists, ex-Fireflies militia, and groups that enslave humans. In season 6, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann will face off against religious cultists, ex-Fireflies militia, and groups that attempt to control humans through slavery.
| Topic | Information |
|---|---|
| Series Title | The Last of Us |
| Season | Season 2 |
| Confirmation | HBO has confirmed the second season. |
| Cast | Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller, Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Shannon Berry as Abby. |
| Plot | Season 2 may explore Cordyceps spores as an emerging threat, with Abby seeking revenge against Joel. |
| Release Date | No specific release date has been announced yet. |
| Where to Watch | The series is available on HBO. |
| Production Status | Filming of nine episodes completed, but ongoing writers and actor strikes may affect production. |
| Themes | Post-apocalyptic survival, father-daughter relationship, Cordyceps infection, revenge, diverse characters. |
| Season 2 Background | Likely to deviate more from the video game source material while exploring supporting characters. |
The Cast
After breaking HBO viewership records and winning critical acclaim in Season 1, The Last of Us Season 2 is finally upon us. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return as Joel Miller and Ellie Williams respectively in this post-apocalyptic drama; new cast members may join to keep fans guessing at what lies ahead.
The first season of The Walking Dead followed closely where its 2013 video game left off: on a hill overlooking a survival settlement with Joel and Ellie both alive but in different circumstances. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann promised they’d stay true to the spirit of the source material by providing an accurate adaption.
If the second season follows the games closely, we can expect Gabriel Luna’s Tommy back as Joel’s younger brother – not only as an Easter egg in Season 1, but likely becoming an integral part of Joel’s story moving forward.
Jesse, Dina’s ex-partner from Jackson, will also play an integral part in Season 2. He followed Ellie and Tommy to Seattle in hopes of tracking them down; thus he may play an essential part in Season 2.
The Plot
After breaking viewing records week after week on HBO, The Last of Us returns for a second season with Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal reprising their roles as emotionally troubled father-daughter pair Joel and Ellie; this time around though they must contend with new flesh-hungry monsters.
The first season of the post-apocalyptic series The Walking Dead ended on an exciting cliffhanger that left audiences eager for more. Now, fans are already speculating on its second season’s plot; though show creators have pledged to follow closely the video game source material as much as possible in subsequent seasons, their second may offer even greater deviation from its source material.
Mazin and Druckmann announced in their preseason podcast that they will explore Cordyceps spores as an emerging threat in season 2; these airborne particles can infect people the same way bites do, while also increasing the variety in Infected appearances during this season.
Abby could also become an important figure, seeking revenge against Joel for killing her father. In the video game, she is part of a militia group known as Washington Liberation Front (WLF), and fans speculate she will be played by Shannon Berry in Season 6.
The Release Date
Are you a fan of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us video games? If so, then you will likely be pleased to know that the HBO series is already planning for a second season. Filming of nine episodes was completed over 200 days with additional time being used for editing and adding in special effects such as fungus special effects. Executive producer Craig Mazin reported this.
Season 2 of The Last of Us will pick up years after Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) finally arrive in Jackson after fleeing their camp in Wyoming. At first, their lives may seem peaceful enough; but soon enough it all becomes threatened once again by various survivors in Jackson.
Fans of the game may recall that Joel made a controversial choice to save Ellie, even at the cost of potentially curing her Cordyceps infection. Mazin and Druckmann may follow a similar narrative line when creating the second season, which may give Abby, introduced in Part II, a bigger role to play.
At this writing, no release date for The Last of Us Season 2 has been set; however, producer Matt Mazin told GQ in March 2023 that it will likely take “more than one season” to tell its story. Unfortunately, ongoing writers and actor strikes over fair wages may put off production on The Last of Us sequel for some time.
Where to Watch
In a world devastated by a global pandemic, an implacable survivor must take responsibility for a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity’s last chance for survival. The first season of this hit PlayStation adaptation earned critical and audience acclaim with Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey delivering outstanding performances as Joel and Ellie respectively, with showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin striking an ideal balance in creating a series that both engaged diehard fans as well as welcoming new viewers.
The Last of Us Season 2 was officially revealed just weeks after its premiere, with co-showrunners already showing excitement post-announcement. HBO still needs to begin pre-production of Season 2, though, and until it ends the writers’ strike could impede its progress.
Conclusion
Mazin and Druckmann have revealed that The Last of Us Part II events will form the backdrop of Season 2, meaning Ellie may continue her blood-fueled revenge tour against those responsible for taking away Joel from her.
Though The Last of Us Season 1 closely adhered to its video game source material, Season 2 will likely veer from this scripted narrative and spend more time exploring some supporting characters as well as adding new players with diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds as major protagonists.
