The Last of Us Season 2: Expected release, cast, plot and more

The Last of Us series finale may have raised questions about Joel’s choice and his morality, but it also takes away our weekly dose of the emotionally traumatized misadventures of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Luckily for us, there’s more to their story; HBO has already launched a second season, with co-creator Neil Druckmann confirming that it will chart the events of 2020’s The Last of Us: Part II game. Craig Mazin, who directed a few episodes of The Last of Us series, had previously hinted that a sequel adaptation was likely if enough people tuned in to watch the first season. Now that all nine episodes are out, it’s broken records and is a critical and commercial success.

According to HBO, The Last of Us finale drew a run of 8.2 million viewers, despite competing against the 2023 Oscars, which aired around the same time. Episode 9 “Look for the Light” slightly broke last week’s record of 8.1 million viewers and marks a 75% increase in traffic from the series premiere, which garnered 4.7 million viewers. The numbers were tallied based on Nielson and first-party data on HBO Max and linear TV shows, and now averages 30.4 million viewers over its first six episodes. Notably, this does not include the Disney+ Hotstar viewership.

HBO content such as The Last of Us will not be available on Disney+ Hotstar starting March 31

With the second season confirmed and the co-creators revealing new information about it in a GQ interview, here’s everything you need to know about The Last of Us season 2:

The Last of Us Season 2 Expected Release Window

A second season of The Last of Us only greenlit two episodes after the first, which is emblematic of the faith HBO has in this video game adaptation. In an interview, manager Pascal said that filming for season 2 could start this year, and given HBO’s track record with their prestige shows, we could expect to see season 2 drop in 2024.

Speaking to The Washington Post earlier this year, co-creator Craig Mazin claimed The Last of Us season 1 filming took 200 days and was following a “feature-like production schedule”. , which he was used to. his drama series 2019 Chernobyl. The team spent 18-19 days working and perfecting each episode unlike network television, which Mazin says requires you to turn 7-8 script pages a day. “We shot more like 18-19 days per episode – two and a half pages a day, maybe three,” he said in the interview. Months of extra work followed in order to get the special effects right. Filming began in July 2021, in Alberta, Canada.

The Last of Us Season 1 Review

Co-creator Craig Mazin was adamant about telling The Last of Us story in just nine episodes
photo credit: HBO

The tone and approach of The Last of Us season 2

Despite the size and scope of the original 2013 video game, Mazin was keen to tell this story to television audiences in exactly nine episodes. The slow process involved many ideas thrown at the original writer Druckmann, as to what tradition to preserve and any deviations from the original.

However, The Last of Us: Part II is much longer with brutal action sequences driving the story forward, exploring the tragedy of revenge and the human ability to forgive. This all ties directly to specific in-game conflicts, so unlike the first season, it might be difficult to deliver sporadic action. Speaking to GQ, the creators confirmed that the depiction of the events of Part II will take more than one season. While Mazin paused before discussing the end of the arc with Season 3 – hinting at the possibility beyond – he did note that some of the series’ events could be reversed entirely from the game.

“There are going to be things that are going to be different, and there are things that are going to be the same. There are things that will be added and enriched. There are things that are going to be reversed,” he said in the interview. “Our goal remains exactly what it was for the first season, which is to deliver a show that makes fans happy.”

One of the complaints stemming from The Last of Us Season 1 was the lack of infected (zombie) clickers compared to the game. noted how much they enjoyed these encounters”. Without spoiling too much, he promises “interesting things” to come in season 2 of The Last of Us.

The Last of Us season 1 lacked extra clickers and action sequences
photo credit: HBO

The Last of Us Season 2 Cast

The two central protagonists Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will reprise their roles as Joel and Ellie, respectively, in The Last of Us season 2. Speaking to Elle magazine earlier this year, Ramsey claimed that if allowed, she would love play Ellie ‘forever’. Co-creator Druckmann has similar views on the subject and would only recast Ramsey if she no longer wanted to continue playing the role. “We’re extremely lucky to have Bella…and the only way we would consider recasting Bella would be if she said, ‘I don’t want to work with you guys anymore,’” he told TheWrap, earlier this week. “And even then, we are not sure to grant him that. We could force her back this season.

While Ramsey’s casting as Ellie was initially criticized by fans – because her face didn’t match the in-game character – the general consensus grew to love her portrayal. The only concern – albeit tiny – is that Ramsey might look too young for Ellie’s arc in The Last of Us Part II, despite being the same age in real life – 19. During this time, Joel will likely appear a little leaner with more gray hair and wrinkles.

Although not explicitly mentioned, Gabriel Luna is set to return as Joel Tommy’s brother in the sequel, alongside Rutina Wesley as his wife Maria, both of whom had key roles to play in the 2020 game. Currently, there is no word on new characters for The Last of Us Season 2.

Bella Ramsey’s casting as Ellie was initially criticized
photo credit: HBO

The Last of Us Season 2 plot

The critically acclaimed but polarizing sequel The Last of Us Part II is set four years after the first game, indicating that the second season kicks off with a time jump as well. Ellie is now 19 and continues to live in Jackson, Wyoming with Joel, Tommy and his girlfriend Dina, who was briefly teased in episode 8 “When We’re In Need”, shyly watching her from behind a pillar before getting yelled at. Her relationship with Joel, however, has become a bit strained, due to the events at the end of the first game/season, where Ellie continues to suspect if Joel was telling the truth about the events that transpired at the Fireflies’ base.

Spoilers for The Last of Us season 1 finale ahead: The Last of Us season 1 finale saw Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Ramsey) finally make their way to Firefly Base, after which the latter had surgery, so the chemical messenger Cordyceps that makes her immune can be suppressed, multiplied, and be used to make a remedy. Unfortunately, Cordyceps grows inside the brain, which would mean Ellie would die in surgery. Joel, who has now formed a fatherly bond with her, retaliates against the Firefly soldiers, slaughtering them all before heading to the pediatric operating room to save her. Inside, there are three people: a doctor and two nurses. The former grabs a knife in self-defense, and Joel, numbed with pain and determination, pops a cap into the doctor’s head and manages to pick it up and leave with a heavily sedated Ellie. Little does he know that this final, unnecessary murder has opened up a whole Pandora’s box that he shouldn’t have had.

Spoilers for The Last of Us Part II: If Druckmann and Mazin intend to follow The Last of Part II closely, let me warn you that Joel will get a lot less screen time in Season 2 — because he dies. It turns out the aforementioned doctor had a child named Abby Anderson, who seeks revenge on Joel for the death of her father – brutally beating him to death with a golf club as a grieving Ellie is forced to be witness to it all. This kicks off a back and forth story of revenge, with the player intermittently taking control of Ellie and Abby, often taking the same paths and offering different perspectives on each character. It’s unclear how the creators intend to tackle character changes in the series — a feature easily done in a video game — but Mazin says he’s got it covered.

The avenger Abby in The Last of Us Part II
Photo credit: naughty dog

Personally, I feel like Oscar-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu would be a great candidate to helm at least some of the episodes, given his expertise in telling interconnected stories that converge in time — like Babel and 21 Grams. .

“I think we know what we’re doing on this one. I’m not saying that in a sarcastic way, I’m saying it in a hopeful way,” he said in the GQ interview. “We have an amazing returning cast. It is an arduous task. But Jesus, the first season too. You can’t make everyone happy. The way Joel’s death was handled in The Last of Us Part II and its message of revenge and forgiveness has angered fans, making it one of the most polarizing titles in the history of the game. video game. The game was bombarded with reviews on aggregator websites, with some complaining about its take on politics and LGBTQ+ characters.

“I don’t care. How they react is how they react, it’s completely out of our control. So how do we create the best TV version of this story? That’s the problem we’re struggling with. every day,” Druckmann said of the backlash to the game and how that translates to his work in The Last of Us season 2.

Here’s a fun fact to wrap up: One of the nurses in The Last of Us finale was played by Laura Bailey, who originally provided the voice and motion capture for Abby in The Last of Us Part II. It’s hard to tell on the show because she was wearing a surgical mask, but the secret was out in some behind the scenes pictures after the episode aired.

All nine episodes of The Last of Us Season 1 are available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar in India and HBO Max wherever available.