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They say that when one door opens, another one closes. Or is that the other way around? Anyway, for fans of The Last of Us, it may be that way since they have been patiently waiting for more than a year for new episodes. However, when season two is released next year, it will will be two episodes short compared to the first season, Deadline exclusively reported.
And here is where the door opens: even though the second season will have an abbreviated seven episodes, series co-creators, directors, executive producers and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmain said there is a possible third season which will be “significantly larger” and with a bigger scope. And what's more, there could be a fourth season coming as well. Not only that, they said that one of the second season's episodes is going to be “quite big” when it comes to its length. So, long then?
Not just one, but two… or maybe three?
Season two's scope was teased at the beginning of the year when the entertainment website revealed the upcoming season's directors, which include Mazin and Druckmann. Both said that they carefully considered their decision to only have seven episodes.
“The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons,” Mazin stated.
“When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the national breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes,” he continued.
This means that the duo see the show going on for at least three seasons, maybe even four. However, at this time, HBO has only confirmed season two for The Last of Us. Its renewal will depend on viewership, something both Mazin and Druckmann are fully aware of.
“We don't think that we're going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons [2 and 3] because we're taking our time and go down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1, too,” Mazin said.
“We feel like it's almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4,” he continued.
The Last of Us season 2: fewer but bigger episodes
Later, Mazin sounded more certain and noted, “One thing is absolutely for sure, I don't see how we could tell the story that remains after Season 2 is complete in one more season.”
When the duo was interviewed early this year, they wanted to assure fans that they're not shortening the season because they took less time to make this season; it's actually the opposite of that. As mentioned earlier, season two's story has more going on which makes it harder to produce.
Mazin insisted, “We want every episode to feel like its own blockbuster to be honest with you.”
In the first season, Joel (Pedro Pascal) was trying to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of the quarantine zone. The rest of the show saw them go on a brutal and heartbreaking journey across the country, which meant they had to depend on each other to survive.
Both Mazin and Druckmann have stated that they are keeping the PlayStation game's themes. They describe season one's theme as unconditional love for Part I and the upcoming season's as revenge for Part II.
“More specifically, it's a continuation of love from the first season, and this is just the dark side of that coin, the pursuit of justice at any cost for the ones you love and the exploration of that,” Druckmann explained.
Won't go the Game of Thrones way
However, the duo insisted that The Last of Us series will not go the way of the other HBO hit Game of Thrones in terms of going beyond the original material.
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But that may not be an issue since there has been speculation that a new installment, Part III, of the game could be in the works. No announcement has been made yet whether this is happening or not.
Mazin is nevertheless hopeful.
“As a fan, I'm thrilled that there might be a third Last of Us game. As the co-creator of this television show, there's no world where I would want our show to go beyond the source material that people have in the world,” he said.
Mazin continued, “Our show as people know it on HBO is going to cover the material from the second game and then quite a bit of material that is relevant to that story but, as I said, wanders down interesting new paths, unseen stories that were told within the context of that games material.”
Not a bad dog, just a Naughty one
The series creator have an advantage when it comes to the source material since Druckmann is the head of Naughty Dog, the game's studio. However, he doesn't want to address the possibility of a Part III. He hasn't discussed this with Mazin either.
“Our focus is the two games,” Druckmann stated.
“As Craig mentioned, there's quite a bit of material there that we're taking our time with, and we're looking at each piece individually to make sure it's got its own arc, its own journey that the characters go on, but there is a grander plan that ties all the seasons together,” he added.
To that end, the upcoming season will revisit certain events from the previous. Unfortunately, the first season's most beloved characters, Bill and Frank, played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett, won't be coming back.
Since Bill and Frank's storyline was expanded from the game, fans are also wondering whether the same thing will be done in season two.
However, the fans will have to remain curious until the second season is released because Mazin isn't teasing anything about that and is standing firm that “we will continue to do things our way.”
This has been a winning formula for the duo. But it also means they've set such a high bar for the show since its debut season was the most watched in HBO's history of just-launched series. It's also very much an award-winning show: eight Emmys, two SAG Awards, and one of each from BAFTA, the DGA, the WGA, the AFI and the Peabody.
The Last of Us season two will see the return of Pascal, Ramsey, Gabriel Luna (Tommy) and Rutina Wesley (Maria). They will be joined by new cast members such as Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Isabela Merced (Dina), Young Mazino (Jesse), Ariela Barer (Mel), Tati Gabrielle (Nora), Spencer Lord (Owen), Danny Ramirez (Manny) and Jeffrey Wright (Isaac). Catherine O'Hara will also guest star.
