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 choices and his morality, but it also kicked off our weekly fix of the misadventures of an emotionally troubled Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Luckily for us, there is more to his story; HBO has greenlit a second season, with co-creator Neil Druckmann confirming it will chart the events of The Last of Us: Part II game in 2020. Craig Mazin, who directed some episodes of The Last of Us series, previously indicated that an adaptation of the sequel was possible if enough people watched the first season. Now with all nine episodes, it has broken records and is a critical and commercial success.

According to HBO, The Last of Us finale attracted an all-time high of 8.2 million viewers, despite airing at almost the same time as competing against the 2023 Oscar ceremony. Episode 9 ‘Look for the Light’ surpassed the previous week’s record of 8.1 million viewers and marked a 75 percent increase in traffic compared to the series premiere, which had 4.7 million viewers. The figures were added based on first-party data from Nielsen and HBO Max and linear telecasts, and now averages 30.4 million viewers over its first six episodes. Notably, this does not include Disney+ Hotstar viewership.

HBO content like The Last of Us will not be available on Disney+ Hotstar from March 31

With the second season confirmed and co-creators revealing new information on the same in GQ interviews, here is everything you need to know about The Last of Us season 2:

The Last of Us season 2 release window expected

The second season of The Last of Us only greenlit two episodes in the first one, which is symbolic of HBO’s confidence in this video game adaptation. In an interview, lead Pascal said that filming for Season 2 could begin this year, and considering HBO’s track record with their prestige shows, we can expect to see Season 2 sometime in 2024.

Speaking to The Washington Post earlier this year, co-creator Craig Mazin claimed that The Last of Us Season 1 took 200 days to film and followed a ‘feature-film-like production schedule’, Which was something he was used to. his 2019 drama series Chernobyl, The crew spent 18–19 days working on and perfecting each episode, in contrast to network television which shoots 7–8 page scripts a day as Mazin demands. He said in the interview, “We shot 18–19 days per episode – two and a half pages a day, maybe three.” Months of additional work followed 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 Insistent on Telling The Last of Us Story in Just Nine Episodes
photo credit: HBO

The Last of Us Season 2 Tone and Attitude

Despite the size and scope of the 2013 original video game, Majin was adamant on telling that story to TV audiences in exactly nine episodes. The slow process involved a lot of ideas being thrown back at Druckmann, the original author, such as which lore should be preserved and any deviations from the original.

However, The Last of Us: Part II is overlong with brutal action sequences that propel the story forward, exploring the tragedy of revenge and the human capacity to forgive. All of this ties directly to specific conflicts in the game, so unlike the first season, it can be difficult to offer sporadic action. Speaking to GQ, the creators confirmed that it will take more than one season to depict the events of Part II. While Mazin stopped short of discussing whether the arc would be completed with season 3 – suggesting the possibility of further – he said that some events in the show may have been completely flipped compared to 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 are going to be added and enriched. There are things that are going to be flipped,” he said in the interview. Said. “Our goal is the same as it was for the first season, which is to deliver a show that will please the fans.”

One of the complaints stemming from The Last of Us Season 1 was the lack of infected clickers (zombie), versus games. Mazin claims to have observed the audience’s reaction to the sparse presence of zombies, and “noted how much they loved those encounters.” Without spoiling much, he promises some “interesting things” to come in The Last of Us Season 2.

The Last of Us Season 1 lacked clickers and more action sequences
photo credit: HBO

The Last of Us Season 2 Cast

The Last of Us Season 2 will see two central leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey reprise their roles as Joel and Ellie, respectively. forever’. Co-creator Druckmann has similar views on the subject and would only recast Ramsay if she did not wish to continue playing the role. “We are very lucky to have Bella… and the only way to recast Bella is if she says, ‘I don’t want to work with you guys anymore,’” he told TheWrap earlier this week. “And yet we are not sure we will grant him that. We may force him to come back this season.”

While Ramsey’s casting as Ellie was initially met with criticism from fans – as her face didn’t match the character in the game – the general consensus has grown to love her portrayal. The only concern – albeit small – is that Ramsey may appear too young for Ellie’s arc in The Last of Us Part II, despite being the same age in real life – 19. Meanwhile, Joel will probably look a bit slimmer with more gray hair and wrinkles.

While not explicitly mentioned, Gabriel Luna is expected to return as Joel’s brother Tommy in the sequel, along with Rutina Wesley as his wife Maria, both of whom had significant roles in the 2020 game. Currently, there is no word on new characters in The Last of Us Season 2.

Bella Ramsey’s casting as Ellie was initially met with criticism
photo credit: HBO

the last of us season 2 plot

The critically acclaimed yet polarizing sequel The Last of Us Part II is set four years after the first game, which indicates that the second season also begins with a time jump. Ellie, now 19 years old, continues to live life in Jackson, Wyoming with Joel, Tommy, and his girlfriend Dina, which was briefly teased in episode 8 ‘When We Are in Need’, before being found screaming against a pillar. She was looking at him shyly from behind. However, due to the events at the end of the first game/season, her relationship with Joel becomes somewhat strained, where Ellie doubts whether Joel was telling the truth about the events that happened at the base of the Fireflies.

Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us season 1 finale: The Last of Us season 1 finale sees Joel (Pascal) and Ellie (Rumsey) finally make their way back to the Firefly base, with the latter undergoing surgery so the cordyceps chemical messenger that creates her immunity can be removed. is, can be multiplied, and can be used for treatment. 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, killing them all before going inside the pediatric operation theater to save her. Inside, there are three persons – a male doctor and two female nurses. The former grabs a knife in self-defense, and Joel, numb from pain and determination, manages to make a hatchet into the doctor’s head and take off with the heavily-dressed Ellie. Little does he know, that final, unnecessary kill opened up a whole can of worms that shouldn’t have been in there.

Spoilers for The Last of Us Part II: If Druckmann and Mazin intend to follow The Last of Us Part II closely, I warn you Joel will have far less screen time in Season 2 – because he dies. As it turns out, the aforementioned doctor had a child named Abby Anderson, who seeks revenge against Joel for his father’s death – brutally beating him to death with a golf club because a A heartbroken Ellie is forced to watch. This kickstarts a revenge story that cuts back and forth, with the player intermittently controlling both Ellie and Abby, often going through the same paths and offering different perspectives on each character. It’s unclear how the producers intend to tackle the character switch on the show — a feature that’s easy to pull off in a video game — but Mazin claims he has it all planned.

Vengeful Abby in The Last of Us Part II
Photo Credit: Naughty Dog

Personally, I feel like Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu would be a great candidate to helm at least a few episodes, given his expertise in telling interconnected stories that converge over time as Babel and 21 Grams. Let’s look at

“I think we know what we’re doing on this. I’m not saying this in a sarcastic way, I’m saying it in a hopeful way,” he said in the GQ interview. “We’ve got an incredible returning cast. It is a difficult task. But jesus, that was the first season. You can’t please everyone.” The way Joel’s death was handled in The Last of Us Part II and its message about revenge and forgiveness angered fans, making it one of the most polarizing titles in video game history. . It was the subject of review bombing on game aggregator websites, with some complaining about the politics and LGBTQ+ characters.

“I don’t care. How they react, how they react, it’s completely out of our control. So how do we make the best TV show version of that story? That’s the problem we deal with every day.” grapple,” Druckmann said in regards to the negative reaction to the game, and how that translates into his work on The Last of Us Season 2.

Here’s a fun fact to close with: 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 is difficult to tell in the show as he was wearing a surgical mask, but in some the secret was revealed. behind the scenes photos after the episode aired.

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