The ink is dry, folks. Multiple Twitter accounts, such as the official The Last of Us HBO account, and PlayStation studio Naughty Dog’s account, have confirmed that HBO’s The Last of Us show has been officially renewed for a second season. Note that, so far, only two episodes for season 1 have released, yet they’ve been so successful that HBO clearly already felt confident enough to keep the series going.
Not only has the show gotten an enormous amount of viewers, it’s been dearly beloved by them as well. The first two episodes both currently have a 9.3/10 rating on the TV & movie data website, IMDB. Interestingly enough, the idea of a season 2 has been hinted at since before the show even began. A few weeks prior to the premiere, The Last of Us’ creator, Neil Druckmann, revealed that, if a second season were to happen, it would be based on the original game’s sequel The Last of Us Part 2, as he didn’t want the series to go beyond adapting the games.
More recently, Ellie’s actor, Bella Ramsey, said the prospect of a second season was “pretty likely;” it seems she was right on the money. In case any further confirmation was required, Druckmann responded to The Last of Us HBO Tweet stating, “Part II -> HBO.”
The first season is, of course, based on the 2013 video game of the same name. Its sequel, 2020’s The Last of Us Part 2, follows the story of Ellie and Joel, however, unfortunately for developer Naughty Dog, this one was not as widely beloved as the original. Its more complex plot ended up being quite controversial, so it will be interesting to see what the reaction is going to be from the show’s new non-gaming audience whenever season 2 comes (no release window has been provided).
It could also be that season 2 features some significant departures from the game in order to appease some of the fans’ complaints, though this is probably unlikely, given how faithful the first season has been. Despite a near complete rewriting of the dialogue and the addition of some extra scenes, The Last of Us HBO’s first season has been quite similar to the 2013 game, hitting nearly all the same plot points.
