Season 2 May Require Multiple Seasons

To no one’s surprise, HBO has already renewed its TV adaptation of The Last of Us for season two after just two episodes under its belt. While the TV show has brought much of the original 2013 game’s story to life thus far, it’s also knowingly taking some fairly substantial divergences or additions to make the universe feel more lived in and keep fans of the game on their toes.

The show’s first season is already confirmed to be covering the entire first game, but that’ll be changing for the second season. Following news of the season two renewal, co-showrunner (and the games’ co-director) Neil Druckmann confirmed that The Last of Us’ sophomore outing would be adapting The Last of Us Part II. And speaking to IGN earlier in the month, co-showrunner Craig Mazin indicated covering that particular game wouldn’t be a one-and-one affair. “It’s more than a season’s worth of television, for sure,” said Mazin. “It’s a big animal to take apart, you know? Because it’s a much bigger story and it’s a more complicated story.”

Released in 2020 for the PlayStation 4, The Last of Us Part II put players in control of Ellie after a significant time jump. While being vague as possible for those who didn’t play the game or hear about its plot points, the sequel features several jumps through time and contains a more expansive cast throughout its runtime. So hearing that the show may elect to make that game into multiple seasons isn’t terribly surprising, and some have even said that game’s plot is structured like a TV show to begin with. Considering the beats of the sequel’s story, and how the show has so far elected to build upon the first game’s foundation, there’s some interesting possibilities in store for season two.

The Last of Us (the show) continues with episode three airing tonight on HBO.

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The Last of Us