Some parts of The Last of Us season 2 will be "radically" different from the game, says showrunner Craig Mazin.
At a press conference (via IGN), Craig Mazin, along with executive producer Neil Druckmann, shared HBO's plans for The Last of Us season 2 revealing that: "[Season 2] will be different just as this season was different." Just like we saw with some elements of the first season: "Sometimes it will be different radically, and sometimes it [won't] be fairly different at all, but it's going to be different."
Mazin continues: "It will be its own thing. It won't be exactly like the game. It will be the show that Neil and I want to make, but we are making it with Bella." Fans have been questioning whether Ellie actor Bella Ramsey would be replaced in season 2 as, in the games, there's a five-year gap between the events of The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2.
Addressing this, Druckmann said: "We are extremely lucky to have Bella and the stuff you saw throughout this entire season. The only way we would ever, ever consider recasting Bella is if she said, 'I don't want to work with you guys anymore.' Even then," Druckmann continues, "I'm not sure we would grant her that. We might still force her to come back to Season 2." Adding to this, Mazin said: "[Ramsey]'s 19 now, which - by the way - is the age of Ellie in The Last of Us Part 2."
It may feel like it only just started but The Last of Us episode 9 (aka the season finale) has now aired, meaning we won't be seeing Joel and Ellie on our screens again for a while. It's already been confirmed that a second season is on the way but we probably won't end up seeing it until 2024 - 2025 at the earliest.
As for what we can expect from this follow-up season, nothing has been revealed yet but Craig Mazin has hinted at the possibility of The Last of Us TV show exploring The Seraphites from The Last of Us 2.
Already watched the season finale? The Last of Us episode 9: The biggest changes between the HBO show and the PlayStation game.
