‘The Last of Us’ season 2 tried to find a sneaky way around the writers’ strike, but ended up shutting down instead

When you have the second entry of the smash hit video game series to draw upon for the sophomore season of The Last of Us, you’d think that the pre-production process for the widely-beloved adaptation could perhaps cut some corners, and ultimately have less hoops to jump through.

Well, so did the decision-makers over at HBO – who were reportedly auditioning season 2 actors using sides taken directly from Naughty Dog’s video game The Last of Us Part II instead of a TV show script, which, as of right now, does not exist – for obvious reasons. Alas, this writer-less shortcut didn’t end up panning out for the network – as Variety reports that production on the second season has been put on hold anyway. 

While it’s not particularly ludicrous or shocking to consider the notion of using pivotal scenes from the game in order to gauge an actor’s aptitude as a fan favorite character, in the midst of the ongoing writers’ strike, it does come off as something of a cheeky workaround while writers all across the country have put their pens down while the WGA locks horns with Hollywood’s biggest studios. 

While Yellowjackets was one of the first productions reported to have halted in the wake of the strike, the dominoes have only continued to tumble since – with a handful of Marvel shows also facing delays as a consequence of the strike action. 

As for The Last of Us season 2, it is expected to start shooting in early 2024, but that’s probably quite tentative at this stage in the game. We’re going to have to be patient. In the meantime, all nine episodes of the show’s first season are streaming on HBO Max.