‘The Last of Us’ showrunners want freedom without relying on filler in future seasons

The Last of Us is on a hot streak. The first two episodes were impressive enough, but the third has blown critics and audiences away with its tender love story and moments of happiness in this nightmare world. Sure, there’s a major gut punch at the close of the story, but the show is already distinguishing itself from the game by expanding what were originally minor plot elements into something much, much more.

HBO has just confirmed season two, and seasoned players will have a fairly good idea of what’s coming next. The Last of Us Part II was a monster hit for Sony and Naughty Dog in 2020, and features a much more ambitious narrative than its predecessor.

Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have already indicated it’d take more than a single season to tell, with Mazin going into a little more detail in an appearance on The Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast:

“We pretty much cover the first game in this first season. The remaining material is quite a bit more involved and rather extensive in comparison to the first game. There’s really no way to tell the story of the second game in one season. And when you look at how we adapted The Last of Us in this season, you can already see where it’s not just the story that’s there; sometimes it’s these other stories we want to tell. We really want the freedom to do it right.”

Don’t expect the show to let up on the gas:

“The one thing I insist on is never boring people and never putting out filler episodes. They’ve got to stand on their own and be compelling – always! But I think that, as we continue, the rest of it can’t be told in just one season. That said, however long it takes to tell that story, that’s exactly as long as we will take and no more. This is not something that goes on forever. It has an end, and we write toward an end.” 

One factor Mazin and Druckmann need to consider is that The Last of Us Part II takes place five years after the first game, and the characters have visibly aged. This may mean we face something of a wait, though the flipside is that if Naughty Dog is developing The Last of Us Part III, that may be able to be adapted as the fourth and fifth seasons of the show.

Whatever happens, the future looks bright for HBO’s The Last of Us. We just wish we could say the same for its characters.

The Last of Us airs Sundays on HBO.