(Photo: HBO)
The Last of Us viewers have been patiently waiting for the post-apocalyptic series’ return, and the series creators/showrunners have now provided an update.
The Last of Us series, which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey is based on the video game franchise by Naughty Dog and is set 20 years after a viral outbreak turns most of the human race into zombies. Others who appeared in the first season include Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson, and Troy Baker.
Per Deadline, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have revealed that season two, which will debut next year, will consist of seven episodes. While that’s two fewer episodes than the first season, the pair revealed that The Last of Us could continue through a fourth season with the content they have left to cover. The drama could run even longer if a new video game is added to the franchise.
Mazin said the following about the length of season two of the HBO series:
“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. 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.”
HBO has only officially renewed The Last of Us through its second season, but the duo are hopeful they will be allowed to continue telling the story as they envision it. While the series has been very popular, it is also expensive to produce. Mazin said the following:
“We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons [2 and 3] because we’re taking our time and go down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1 too. 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.”
The premiere date for season two of The Last of Us will be announced later.
What do you think? Have you watched The Last of Us on HBO? Will you tune in for season two when it arrives next year?
Like the EV pandemic crawling across the floor to consume fossil fuels and people!
Just seven episodes?! I’m glad we’re getting another season, and possibly more. But having to wait close to two years for another season, only to get a handful of episodes is crappy. I don’t think we need a 22-episode season like we used to get with broadcast shows but come on.
10 would be nice. Can see it losing a lot of viewers with such a long delay between seasons.
Don’t forget there were strikes that delayed this. It was originally going to be out this fall, or possibly even Summer.