Fans patiently waiting for the return of Joel, Ellie and the other unfortunate souls suffering through the end of the world won’t have to wait much longer. HBO announced that season two of the Emmy-winning series The Last of Us will premiere April 13.
The cable network and streaming service released a trio of posters, each centering one of the series' two protagonists played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, as well as series newcomer Abby played by actress Kaitlyn Dever. Each depicts them walking down the neck of a guitar resembling a road. The tagline “Every Path Has A Price,” ominously references the agonizing road ahead of them in the next season.
The Last of Us season two will adapt at least part of the video game series’ 2020 sequel. The Last of Us: Part II takes place five years after the first game, and spins the tale of Joel and Ellie’s complicated relationship following the former’s heinous, (or understandable, depending on which side of the fence you’re on) history-altering decision. Part II also dives into the personal life of a now-adult Ellie against the backdrop of humanity’s recovery from a terrifying apocalypse.
HBO revealed the premiere date for season two in a series of posters.
It’s been over two years since The Last of Us wowed TV audiences. During its 2023 run, the show garnered universal praise from critics, became HBO’s most-watched debut season ever, and won eight Emmys the following year. Barring a few smart deviations from the source material, the first season is a fairly straightforward adaptation of developer Naughty Dog’s groundbreaking third-person action game.
Showrunner Craig Mazin has already said that season two will wisely tell the story of the much longer second game across at least two seasons. Season two will feature just seven episodes compared to the first season’s nine. But Mazin promised that each episode would be dense with development for each of its characters.
“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,” Mazin told Deadline last year. “This season coming up is a little bit shorter than the first one [...] not because we’re taking less time to tell the stories. It’s because we want to take more time.”
The Last Of Us Part II infamously divided fans of the original for taking some big risks with its story. While I certainly appreciated the blockbuster sequel’s willingness to take risks with a game pegged as a guaranteed hit, it didn’t land with others who wanted a more traditional video game follow-up. Unfortunately, that divisiveness also resulted in some abominable behavior from fringe parts of the internet.
Assuming the second season adapts the plot of the game closely, it will be interesting to see how television audiences respond compared to their gaming counterparts. My gut tells me the response won’t be nearly as polarizing, as TV audiences often have more patience and appreciation for storytelling that deviates from expectations, even if it means being uncomfortable along the way.
The Last of Us is one in a string of excellent TV and film adaptations of video game franchises. Sonic The Hedgehog 3, Five Nights At Freddy’s, and last year’s Fallout show were big successes for Hollywood. The next game to get a big film will be the pivotal sandbox game Minecraft in April, starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa, and Jermaine Clement.
