The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin has confirmed that the acclaimed video game adaptation is set to come to an end soon.
The HBO series, created by Mazin and Neil Druckmann, debuted in 2023 to rave reviews from fans and critics alike.
It stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, survivors of a deadly pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, who are trekking to safety across a post-apocalyptic America.
The drama earned a staggering 24 Emmy nominations and was widely touted as having broken the so-called “curse” that had previously blighted video game adaptations, which have often been met with underwhelming box office returns or scathing reviews on making the jump to the big or small screen.
The second season, which is set five years on from the events of the first and is inspired by the video game The Last of Us Part II. It is set to air in the UK on Sky and Now from 14 April.
According to HBO, in the new episodes, “Joel and Ellie’s collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mazin stressed that he will not continue the show past the end point reached in the original game, meaning that he will only make three or four seasons in total.
“I am not going to go past the game,” he told the magazine. “I’ll just say that flat out. So if people are thinking, ‘Oh, these guys are planning the old cash grab thing…’”
“I’m basically setting a decade of my rapidly dwindling life on fire to tell this story,” he added. “The show is so hard to make. It has to have an end. So I’m not going to go past.”
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Mazin went on to suggest that a potential spin-off show might be made in the future by another filmmaker.
“Who knows me, there might be a Dunk and Egg The Last of Us show that happens that somebody does,” he said, referring to the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on George RR Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg stories.
“But for me, the only question is: Is it going to be one more season or will it require two more? If this can happen all in one more season, great.
“If we feel like it makes sense to break it into two, then we will do that.”
The second season of The Last of Us sees Kaitlyn Dever join the cast as Abby, Ellie’s new antagonist.
Jeffrey Wright and Catherine O’Hara will also appear in the upcoming episodes.
