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Anyone who’s played the second game can immediately tell some of the expected setpieces that will be coming to the second season of the show. After settling in Jackson, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) are met with a new antagonist in the form of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever). Essentially Ellie will spend the whole story looking for Abby in Seattle, and she goes to terribly dark places emotionally to get what she needs.

While most of Abby’s backstory is a mystery for the first half of the game, it does look like the series is going to push some of it forward for the show. Though Abby has her own arc with the Seraphites in the game, it does seem like they’re going to be holding back on that for the third season—that’s why none of the main Seraphite characters have been cast yet.

That being said, it does seem like the ‘Scars’ are going to have their backstory explored in the series. They’re mostly a mystery in the game, but they do have a beef with the WLF leader Isaac (Jeffrey Wright) who is the leader of Abby’s post-apocalypse faction.

So far the series is looking great, and everyone whose played the game knows that TV-only audiences are in for an emotional rollercoaster.

The Last of Us returns to HBO this April.

We’ll have to wait until next year till it comes, but HBO has just dropped the first trailer for The Last of Us Season 2, and it showcases a lot of signature moments from the games. Check this out:

Anyone who played TLOU Part II is familiar with all the familiar scenes including the one where Joel and Ellie bond over the guitar, and the one where Abby gets attacked by a horde of infected. There’s also the scene where Ellie plays the guitar for Dina in an abandoned Seattle.

With the first season making some tweaks to the story and adding new characters, it looks like the second season is going to be doing more of the same. Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac only played a small part in the game, but it looks like his role is expanded for the show, and we’ll actually get to see how ruthless the leader of the WLF is going to be.

It’s also not clear who Catherine O’Hara is from the games, but it’s probably a good guess that she’s the resident therapist of Jackson, and Joel has been seeing her to process the events of the first season, from him getting attached to Ellie, to him gunning down the doctors that were going to find a cure for the cordyceps.

So far, the first season of The Last of Us was phenomenal, and hopes are up that the second season will be every bit as emotional. It’s not clear if they’re going to adapt the full game, but we’re just going to have to wait and see what happens.

The Last of Us Season 2 comes to Max sometime in 2025.

Talking to Happy Sad Confused podcast (via IGN), Isabela Merced (the live-action Dina) has confirmed that Kaitlyn Dever, who is playing Abby in the series, had to have extra security because the crew knew about the fandom’s toxicity toward Abby.

Merced explained, “There’s so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder: Not a real person… Kaitlyn had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this.”

For context, Laura Bailey, who had played Abby in the game, also faced severe harassment and death threats when The Last of Us Part II came out. Not to mention there was just waves of memes about how Abby was terrible and how everyone involved with the game didn’t understand the franchise.

So far, these toxic fans have mostly just been relegated to the internet, but you can never be too sure whether there would be a new Mark Chapman just waiting to avenge their favorite make-believe video game character.

We don’t know when HBO is ready to give us a new look at Season 2, but fans are hopeful we get another great season.

The Last of Us Season 2 is expected to premiere on Max sometime next year.

Just in, we have some set photos, and it has Wright sporting some military gear. Check this out:

First look at Oscar Nominated & Emmy Winner #JeffreyWright on the set of #TheLastofUs playing “Issac’s” #TheBatman #JamesBond Very easy to talk too, & super nice to fans. Was very nice signing autocards & photo’s,funko’s @yvrshootstweets @TheLastofUsNews @TLOUSource pic.twitter.com/ibPjVNer2K

— NewWestBoy (@CaptCanuck66) May 27, 2024

For context, Isaac is the leader of the Washington Liberation Front a.k.a. WLF—the faction that Abby belongs to. If you don’t know who Abby is, she’s considered the co-protagonist of the second game, and she has an arc that runs alongside Ellie’s.  Here’s a scene involving Isaac and Abby:

Seeing that the show has a tendency to expand on the stories of multiple side characters, it’s possible that we could be getting more on Isaac’s lor. Admittedly, he isn’t one of the more fleshed out characters in the game, but with the series, they could very much tell us his origin or what exactly he has planned with the clash between the WLF and the local cult which call themselves the Seraphites.

Interestingly enough, Wright is the second actor to reprise his role from the game to the series. Hopefully they give him something more to do here besides be a roadblock for Abby in the WLF beaurocracy.

The Last of Us Season 2 still has no release date, but you can probably catch it on Max sometime next year. In the meantime, you can catch the complete first season now streaming.

Dever may not have landed the role, but it does look like she could be joining the series after all; not as Ellie, but rather the sequel’s antagonist Abby.

According to The InSneider, Dever has been cast in the role of Abby Anderson. It was mentioned by series showrunner Craig Mazin that the part had already been cast back in August, and now the series is gearing up to start production of Season 2 this January.

Though some could be worried that Dever may not have the time to bulk up and match the Abby we see in the game, it has been said that the series could be splitting up the timeline in the games. It’s possible we could be seeing Abby’s history in the second season with her dad, and we can have the chase with Ellie in Part II of The Last of Us around the time of Season 3.

Before word of Dever’s casting, it was rumored that Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer) was being eyed for the role of Abby, but seeing as she’s essentially an A-lister now, Dever seems like a more realistic choice for the series—which will probably eat up a lot of time and take a lot of effort.

Of course, nothing official has been confirmed, but I think Dever would be a great choice for someone others are considering the co-protagonist of The Last of Us Part II.

No release date has been set for the second season of The Last of Us, but you can catch the first season now screening on Max. You can catch Dever in No One Will Save You now streaming on Hulu.

Talking to the LA Times, Mazin confirms that he’s worked on a treatment for a reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for Disney, but development is halted as the strikes are still ongoing. He says, “We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird… And they did! And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”

Despite the success of the Pirates films in the theaters, they have been in a kind of weird place ever since the original trilogy ended with World’s End. Some say that they have become over-reliant on the character of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) throughout the course of the films; and with Depp’s recent public dispute with ex-wife Amber Heard, Disney (and a bunch of other studios) probably don’t want him to be around their billion-dollar franchises for a good long while.

It’s unclear what direction POTC wants to move forward with. Last December, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed there were two Pirates films in the works, one starring Barbie actress Margot Robbie. It’s very likely that the project with Mazin is the second one that Bruckheimer mentioned; but as of now, we don’t have any further details.

A next Pirates of the Caribbean film hasn’t been announced, but you check out The Last of Us and Chernobyl now streaming on Max.

Talking to GQ, Druckmann and Mazin confirmed that The Last of Us Part II’s story will take place around multiple seasons. Here’s the exchange:

GQ: People are also speculating how Season 2 will encompass such a large game. Will the next season span the entire course of the second game?

Mazin: [shakes head] No. No way. 

Druckmann: It’s more than one season.

GQ: Can you tell us if it’s two or three seasons?

Mazin: You have noted correctly that we will not say how many. But more than one is factually correct. [Laughs].

We don’t have any specific details as to where the second season will go and how much Part II will cover, but gamers know that the seeds have already been planted in the finale. Druckmann does continue to tease, “Some of the stuff I’m most excited for [in Part 2] are the changes we’ve discussed and seeing the story come to life again in this other version. And I think it’s exciting because it leans into those feelings you had from the game, really heavily, in a new way.”

What’s amazing about the series was how it was able to introduce so many changes from the original game without making it unfaithful to the source material; like Sam being deaf and Bill’s entire arc. It’s unclear what kind of changes Druckmann wants to include, but I would love to know more about the origin of the Seraphites and maybe Abby’s dad.

The Last of Us Season 2 has no release date yet, but you can catch the completed first season now streaming on HBO Max.

Just in, we have the new preview for Episode 9, and it confirms that we’re going to see a pregnant Anna Williams being attacked by infected. Check this out:

Fans who have already played the game could piece together the some pieces from the final act of the story, but it seems that we’re going to be getting an extensive flashback featuring the circumstances of Ellie’s birth, as well as Marlene’s decision to have her sent to FEDRA’s military school.

So far, even the games have been mysterious when it comes to Ellie’s immunity, but maybe the show could go the extra mile and reveal what could have made Ellie immune. Did it have something to do with her mother getting infected during the pregnancy? I’m honestly not expecting answers, but maybe the show would be willing to explain something.

I didn’t think that the first season would be able to encapsulate the whole game, but they managed to cut through the David arc in one episode. Hopefully we get a satisfying finale, especially now that the series has established the closeness of Ellie and Joel. I wonder what they’ll have in store for Season 2?

Catch the finale of The Last of Us when it steams on HBO Max this Sunday.

Talking to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Pascal tells his story at 4:20:

Pascal details a story where he had met with showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin about the job, but since he’d taken an Ambien to make sure he got up early in the morning, he had forgotten the next day that he was cast. Apparently Pascal had to look at messages in his phone to remember that he did land the part.

So far, Pascal had been doing a great job with the role, but there has been a lot of praise when it comes to his co-stars likes Anna Torv (Tess), Nick Offerman (Bill), and Murray Bartlett (Frank). Fans who have played the game know that a lot of Joel’s more emotional moments have yet to happen, but so far, Pascal is doing great playing the shut-off, apocalypse survivor.

I guess it’s also worth mentioning that Pascal has a great co-star with Bella Ramsey’s Ellie. She may not look like the video game model, but she definitely has Ellie’s sass down pat. I can’t wait to watch the two absolutely have their hearts torn out by the end of the season.

Catch new episodes of The Last of Us every Sunday night on HBO Max.

A lot of fans have been excited for the arrival of Nick Offerman’s Bill in The Last of Us, and while his arc was already pretty clear in the game, the series had decided to deviate in the biggest way when it comes to Bill and Frank’s story.

Just in, we have a featurette looking into the episode and Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin talk about the decision to make the change. Watch this:

Meet Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) and learn all about how their story deviated — and expanded — when translating the game to screen from the cast and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

If you’ve played the game, you’ll know that Joel and Ellie actually meet Bill alive, and during his chapter, they run into Frank’s body—which is revealed to have been infected, but Frank got ahead of the disease and killed himself, leaving a hateful note to Bill.

Since the series isn’t so concerned about adding action scenes around every corner, the latest episode just decided to focus on Bill and Frank’s partnership, and in a surprising twist, we see Bill exit the picture together with Frank. It’s actually a very touching moment, and fans online are all going crazy over Offerman and Bartlett’s performances.

Despite the deviation, Joel and Ellie still end up with the tools they got from Bill in the game, and now the show is gearing up for when they run into the Hunters. That should add some action after that dramatic third episode.

Catch The Last of Us series now screening on HBO Max.

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Besides getting the Clickers right, the show had also shown us the biggest difference between the game and the series, which is the cordyceps spread through tendrils rather than spores. We can see that bothering the tendrils will actually summon a horde of infected to your location, and when they’re not chasing anyone, the infected kind of just hang in one place and … wiggle a bit until something comes along.

I’ll admit, it’s actually a very clever mechanic, and it does seem more horrifying. In the game, Tess actually had to fight off the military, but her sacrifice in the series is still pretty clear, plus we get some more lore on the cordyceps.

For now, the series is gearing up for the debut of Nick Offerman as Bill, who, in the game, had rigged an entire town to keep himself safe. Though Bill’s story was only hinted at in the game, the series promises to really delve into his character, including his romance with Frank. We may even be looking at a flashback between Bill and Joel. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Catch new episodes of The Last of Us on HBO Max every Sunday.

Talking to Extraordinerd (via @NaughtyDogInfo), Mazin reveals:

“In reality, if the fungus did spread that way through spores, everybody would be wearing masks all the time, because spores don’t sit in one spot; they go everywhere. And honestly, if cordyceps did spread by spores, in reality I think everybody would be infected within a few hours—We can’t run away from air.”

In an interview with Extraordinerd, Craig Mazin revealed why the decision to remove spores from HBO's The Last of Us was made. pic.twitter.com/66NkjcqDUj

— Naughty Dog Info (@NaughtyDogInfo) January 9, 2023

Though the Last of Us show is going to have less gasmasks than the game, Mazin does say that the new way of infection is considered scarier by the people making the show. He continues:

“So we wanted to come up with a different vector of infection; a different way that the infection passed through, and again, talking to scientists, we came up with a slightly different method that honors the game, feels very similar to the game, and in really important ways—biting matters, but it’s not incompatible with the way fungi actually work; and in truth I think we thought it was actually scarier.”

For now, there are those who already think the change is terrible, but there are some that agree that the change is more scientifically accurate when it comes to the nature of the cordyceps.

If anything, Mazin is an amazing writer, and I can’t wait to see what he and original game director Neil Druckmann have brought to the show.

Catch The Last of Us when it premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 16.

During an appearance at CCXP (via @NaughtyDogInfo), showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed that Lynskey’s character is actually a leader of the ‘Hunters.’

In the game, the Hunters are a group of humans that regularly ambush travellers (who they call ‘tourists’) to loot them for their valuables and supplies. They are usually well-armed and violent, and are a constant threat in the world of TLOU.

Though we have the general idea of the Hunters in the game, Mazin says there are some changes with the group when we meet them in the show. No doubt, these will come with the character of Lynskey who could have some kind of connection with Joel. After all, Joel and Tommy had been members of a Hunter group before they decided to go their separate ways—explaining why Joel is so adept at torturing people for information.

Maybe we can have some insight on what Joel used to do for them. The faction is also constantly at odds with the Fireflies, so maybe we can figure out more about them in the series since the game is generally mysterious about the group.

For now, fans wait for the premiere of The Last of Us on HBO Max this coming Jan. 16.

Talking to The New Yorker, game director Neil Druckmann, who is also working on the series, explains that the series will have a new treatment when it comes to Bill and Frank’s story, with an entire episode dedicated to their origin. Druckmann says:

“As awesome as that episode is, there are going to be fans who are upset by it… To me, the story we tell is authentic to the world. It’s authentic to the themes that we’re talking about.”

If anything, Bill and Frank’s relationship is also a different take on the show’s overarching theme about love. Druckmann explains it’s about “outward love and inward love—the people who want to make everybody better, and the people who want to protect particular people at any cost.”

If you ask me, Bill was one of the more interesting characters in the first game, and I was honestly kind of bummed we don’t get to see him in The Last of Us Part II (he does get mentioned by Ellie though). We don’t know exactly what Bill’s arc is going to be in the series, but I’m excited to watch Nick Offerman bring him to life.

Catch The Last of Us when it premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 16, 2023.

Talking to Empire, showrunner Craig Mazin explains how he and original game director Neil Druckmann approached the making of the series and tried to expand on the world of the game. Mazin explains:

“Games themselves are often brilliant to play, and not at all brilliant to watch when dramatized… Neil and I always knew to ask, ‘Why are we only doing what’s in the game? What can we do to expand?’”

Just based on what we see in the trailers and promo material, it looks like the series is going places where the game hasn’t. There’s a shot of Joel and Ellie looking over a downed airplane (which didn’t happen in the game), and we also have some imagery of what could be the explanation for a Cordycep origin.

If you’ve watched Chernobyl and Mythic Quest , you’ll know that Mazin is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to writing, and I’m so happy they really went all-in and had Druckmann working closely on the series as well. The Last of Us is probably one of the most solid narrative-focused gaming franchises today, and with a series incoming, we could be looking at a new standard for video game adaptations.

Catch The Last of Us when it premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 16,2023.

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Beside Joel and Ellie, we get a look at characters like Marlene (Merle Dandridge), Bill (Nick Offerman), Riley (Storm Reid), Henry (Lamar Johnson), and Sam (Keivonn Woodard).

Though we should expect some recreations with some scenes from The Last of Us game, the preview also confirms that we’re getting some moments from the DLC Left Behind which has Ellie and Riley breaking into an abandoned mall for a type of ‘date’.  Some are even speculating we could be getting seeds planted for The Last of Us Part II.

There also looks to be the cannibal gang that Joel and Ellie run into, but I think this could be a red herring, with the showrunners planning to introduce David in the next season. Then again, that’s just my guess.

Here’s the series description:

20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

The Last of Us premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 15, 2023.

This was shared by Ellie actress Bella Ramsey:

Oh hey there. @TheLastofUsHBO @HBO @hbomax @PedroPascal1 #TheLastOfUs pic.twitter.com/gFcEtOyi2y

— Bella Ramsey (@BellaRamsey) November 2, 2022

This confirms the earlier rumor that had come out that The Last of Us would release on HBO Max on January 15, 2023. While some had speculated that the show could come out quite later in the year, at least HBO is willing not to make us wait too long. Maybe they want to ride the hype wave of the recently released The Last of Us Part I.

We don’t know exactly where the first season will end when it comes to the story of Joel and Ellie, but it’s been said that Mazin will be taking some liberties with the adaptation. If anything, game director Neil Druckmann is also on board with the making of the series, so while there could be some changes with specific things in the timeline, I think they will stay true to the core of the story which will be around the relationship between Joel and Ellie.

Until the series premieres, we’ll just have to wait.

Here’s the official synopsis:

The series takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

The Last of Us premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 15, 2023.

Just in, HBO Max has dropped the first teaser for their Last of Us adaptation, and it stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) and several other stars. Watch this:

While the journey that Joel and Ellie take is the main ‘quest’ of The Last of Us, some scenes confirm that we’re getting some backstory, including Joel’s experience during the day of the outbreak, and Ellie’s friendship with Riley which was told in the DLC The Last of Us: Left Behind.

Since this is a series adaptation, we should also expect some changes when it comes to the overall story. After all, I’m sure what’s great for a video game doesn’t translate directly to a series. With game director Neil Druckmann involved though, I think the series has a good chance of staying very true to the nature of the original game; besides, showrunner Craig Mazin had delivered the fantastic Chernobyl series for HBO Max—I have no doubt he is more than qualified to try and adapt The Last of Us for the small screen.

So far I think the show looks great, though the world does seem a lot more populated than the one in the game. Plus we only get one glimpse of a clicker; I’m crossing my fingers we get everything from the spazzed out shamblers to the massive bloaters.

No specific release date has been announced for The Last of Us on HBO Max, but you can check out the games now available for PlayStation 4|5.

The original article follows:

After a successful run with HBO’s Chernobyl, Craig Mazin is now ready to tackle a video game adaptation with the upcoming Last of Us series. The biggest star attached to the project is probably Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), but it looks like a famous face from Pawnee, Indiana is going to be making an appearance on the show as well.

As confirmed by actor Murray Bartlett to The Guardian, Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) will be appearing in the Last of Us series. When asked about The Last of Us, Bartlett explained, “A lot of my scenes are with Nick Offerman. Playing off him was awesome.”

We don’t have any details on who Offerman is going to be on the show, but we do know that Bartlett is going to be playing the part of Frank. In the game, Frank was the partner (and possibly former lover) of Bill, a character Joel and Ellie meet who has booby-trapped an entire town and kept it to himself.

While Offerman would have been the perfect choice to play Bill on the show, the part had already been given to Con O’Neill. Could they have recast the part of Bill with Offerman, or is he playing someone else entirely? We don’t know who else Frank could have been interacting with, because in the game, we only meet Frank after he’d died.

One thing’s for sure, Offerman and his introverted alpha male Ron Swanson would have been a good blueprint for a hardened scavenger (and possible homosexual) like Bill.

No release date has been set for HBO’s The Last of Us.

This was shared by Druckmann on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Neil_Druckmann/status/1442292909798166528

While we don’t really get to see their faces, just the composition of the shot alone looks a lot like a screenshot from the game. We don’t really have a moment in The Last of Us where Ellie and Joel encounter a fallen plane, but it should be an interesting expansion to the story.

Though video game adaptations have failed in the past, HBO may be on to something when it comes to turning The Last of Us into a series. The original story does have a lot of very interesting chapters, and it’s potential for some compelling television. If anything, the first game kind of set a new bar when it came to video game narration, and the sequel pretty much pushed the boundaries when it comes to player immersion and empathy. Fingers crossed that showrunner Craig Mazin will be able to tap into that when it comes to this more traditional form of entertainment.

No release date has been set for The Last of Us, but fans are hoping to catch it on HBO sometime soon.