We’re three episodes into The Last of Us on HBO, and it’s a bona-fide hit. Naturally, HBO has renewed the show for a second season.
But what does that mean for the overall arc of the series? The Last of Us, about a man (Pedro Pascal) and young woman (Bella Ramsey) trying to find purpose amida zombie apocalypse, is based on the video game of the same name made by Naughty Dog and released for the PlayStation 3 in 2013. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have been clear the first season of the show will cover the events of the first game, and no more.
A sequel — The Last of Us Part II — came out for the PlayStation 4 in 2020, picking up some years after the end of Part I and telling a whole new story. We assume that The Last of Us season 2 will adapt that game, but will it fit into one season?
The Last of Us Part II is “more than a season’s worth of television, for sure”
According to Craig Mazin, no. “It’s a big animal to take apart, you know?” he said of the second game. “Because it’s a much bigger story and it’s a more complicated story. It’s a beautiful story.”
And then came the clincher: “It’s more than a season’s worth of television, for sure.”
So it sounds like Mazin and company plan to adapt The Last of Us Part II as one than one season of TV, which makes sense; the game is more sprawling and involves more characters than the first, so I can see it taking two seasons to adapt. That would also allow HBO to milk what is quickly becoming a popular franchise for a bit longer.
Who will play Abby in The Last of Us season 2?
We won’t get into spoilers for the second Last of Us game, although we’ll note that the story stirred up a lot of controversy among the fans. Without giving anything away, some people were very unhappy with how the story of Joel and Ellie continues.
Some of that involves a new character named Abby, voiced in the game by Laura Bailey. We don’t know who will play her yet, but fans have started to speculate that it may be an actor named Shannon Berry, best known at this point for her portrayal of Dot in the Amazon show The Wilds, about a bunch of kids who have to fend for themselves on a deserted island.
Berry is the right age for Abby — she’s a bit older than Ellie in The Last of Us Part II — and kind of has a similar face. Plus, fans have noticed that she recently started following Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsay, Neil Druckmann and the official Last of Us account on Instagram. And Druckmann started following her.
Has the show already found its Abby? Stay tuned.
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