The Last of Us Part 2 will be adapted over multiple seasons

The Last of Us co-creators have confirmed the HBO adaptation will take multiple seasons to tell the story of The Last of Us Part 2. 

In an interview with GQ, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said the second game will be ‘more than one season,’ but didn’t confirm how many seasons the story would be encompassed in. The show was renewed by HBO for a second season in January 2023, with the season one finale airing on 13 March 2023.

Druckmann says adapting the sequel to the highly-popular game is exciting because ‘it leans into those feelings you had from the game, really heavily, in a new way.’ When asked about whether they think TV audiences will react similarly to where the storyline of The Last of Us Part 2 goes as players did on release, Mazin says audiences reacting with anger and confusion is preferable to him over indifference.

Citing the number of low ratings given to the third episode featuring the story of Bill and Frank, in comparison to the extremely high ratings of other episodes, he said, ‘I would much rather have a show that lives off of 10s and 1s, than a show that lives off of 5s.’

The Last of Us Part 2 was released in June 2020, seven years after the first installment. It received critical acclaim, although at the time was also review-bombed due to the storyline and inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters.  It won the 2020 Game of the Year at The Game Awards, alongside a whole host of other accolades lauding its character development, storyline, graphics, and gameplay. 

The sequel itself was much larger scale and ambitious in its time jumps, flashbacks, and perspective changes, with a massive cast of characters integral to the core story. Mazin says the aim for the next season of the show is to make fans happy, and that there will be many parts of the story that will be identical to the game, but also plenty of areas where aspects will be ‘added and enriched’ or ‘flipped’, much the same as the first season.

The Last of Us adaptation’s premiere had the second-largest debut for HBO, behind House of the Dragon, with 4.7 million US viewers combined watching the first episode across the cable channel and streaming platform, HBO Max.

Given the history of video game adaptations flopping critically, and fans decrying the lack of faithfulness to the original material, the Last of Us has set a new standard. Both old and new fans of the world of The Last of Us are bound to be watching closely when the second season hits screens, and there’s sure to be plenty of polarising opinions on the intense storyline yet to come.

For further analysis and reading on the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us, you can check out the following articles: 

• A spoiler-free review of the entire first season of The Last of Us HBO TV series
• The Last of Us HBO TV series: Cast and Character Guide 
• The Last of Us interview: Henry and Perry actors examine their work
• The Last of Us interview – Storm Reid on portraying Riley

Episode recaps and analysis: 

• The Last of Us – Episode 1 Recap – ‘When You’re Lost in the Darkness’
• The Last of Us – Episode 2 Recap – ‘Infected’
• The Last of Us – Episode 3 Recap – ‘Long, Long Time’
• The Last of Us – Episode 4 Recap – ‘Please Hold to My Hand’
• The Last of Us – Episode 5 Recap – ‘Endure and Survive’
• The Last of Us – Episode 6 Recap – ‘Kin’
• The Last of Us – Episode 7 Recap – ‘Left Behind’ 
• The Last of Us – Episode 8 Recap – ‘When We Are In Need’
• The Last of Us – Episode 9 Finale Recap – ‘Look for the Light’

Behind-the-scenes podcast recaps:

• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 1 – ‘When You’re Lost in the Darkness’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 2 – ‘Infected’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 3 – ‘Long, Long Time’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 4 – ‘Please Hold to My Hand’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 5 – ‘Endure and Survive’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 6 – ‘Kin’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes of Episode 7 – ‘Left Behind’
• The Last of Us Podcast – Behind the Scenes on Episode 8 – ‘When We Are In Need’

The Last of Us is now streaming on HBO Max in the US, and Binge in Australia.