This article contains minor spoilers from The Last of Us Part I.
The Last of Us, a record-breaking debut, has been renewed for a second season on HBO. Followed by Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), Ellie (Bella Ramsey), follows humanity as he seeks out a young girl in a fungal epidemic.
Mazin and Druckmann have both expressed their gratitude for the support fans have shown for the series. Druckmann said: "I'm humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have participated in and supported our story of Joel and Ellie. Craig Mazin, our amazing cast and crew, and HBO have exceeded my expectations."
While we don't know much about where the series will go after season 1, here's what we know so far about the second season.
The Last of Us Part II's Story Will Likely Be the Starting Point
The first season of The Last of Us will cover the entirety of the first game, so it seems natural that season 2 would begin with adapting The Last of Us Part II. Probably the amount of remaining story would take us longer than a season to tell. We don't have that ambition. Our ambition is to tell the story as best we can, in a different medium.
The Last of Us Part II's compelling and controversial narrative leaves plenty for the HBO series to explore over a second, and perhaps even third, season. The Last of Us Part II is set five years after the conclusion of The Last of Us Part I. The gameplay allows us to spend more time with Ellie as one of the playable characters, while Abby is a new addition.
The Last of Us Part II is an exercise in empathy and a great reminder that just because we're the hero of our own story does not mean we're not the villain of another's.
The Creators Are Ready to Deal With The Last of Us Part II's Time Jump
If you're worried that moving forward five years might result in the loss of Bella Ramsey as Ellie, don't worry too much right now. "I think there's a little bit of flexibility." Of the time jump, Mazin said, "I think there's some flexibility." They've already demonstrated that making Pedro Pascal look twenty years older as Joel shouldn't be an issue.
Bella Ramsey is already nineteen, which is roughly the same age as Ellie in The Last of Us Part II. Considering that The Last of Us Part II also includes flashbacks to a younger Ellie following the events of Part I, it would make sense to keep Bella Ramsey as both the younger and older versions of Ellie.
Spores might make a comeback.
The Last of Us Part II has several new variations of the cordyceps infection to draw on, as well as the emotional impact of Abby and Ellie's intertwined story for HBO series. Mazin and Druckmann have plenty of room to expand on the series' Cordyceps legend and possibly add an updated version of the game's spores.
Mazin and Druckmann wanted to avoid the airborne Cordyceps spores found in the game by introducing mycelial tendrils that connect the infected to each other in the series. "I don't necessarily think we've eliminated spores from the universe of our show," Mazin said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "It's possible that they may come back."
Druckmann agrees, saying, "The way they were in the game was insufficient to how realistic the show has become." We've had some discussions recently. I was like, 'Is there a way to pull it off?'
Shamblers are a type of infectious organism that falls between Clickers and Bloaters, though they are mostly native to wet climates. They are able to expel large quantities of acidic spores from their bodies, and they also release a final cloud of spores when they've been killed as a last attempt at spreading the infection.
I can't wait to see how the second game handles the complex narrative laid out in the first game. Any modifications to the gameplay lore have felt purposeful and tend to help the series stand on its own, so I trust that whatever path Mazin and Druckmann choose to take in season 2 will uphold The Last of Us Part II's weight.