Caitlin Dever will bring more drama to The Last of Us

Pedro Pascal and Bela Ramsay in The Last of Us (Photo: Liane Henscher: HBO)

Of HBO The Last of Us It’s the latest in a recent and encouraging trend that suggests video game TV doesn’t have to be cheesy to stay loyal.

Its nine episodes garnered a staggering number of viewers (a cumulative audience of 30.4 million, per The Hollywood Reporter). The Last of Us Was far from a bad show. The post-apocalyptic series found a navigable middle ground between gaming and television. Most of its dramatic beats – not to mention some of the dialogue – were lifted more or less verbatim from the famous 2013 game from Naughty Dog and its DLC. left behind. (That’s “downloadable content” for non-gamers.) Episodes of varying lengths—the longest was its premiere, at 81 minutes—explored the franchise’s Cordyceps-influenced world with unexpected grace notes and lore expansions that had yet to be revealed in games. . .

Such dedication to the source means that any deviations — any, at all — can result in fan outrage. And changes were brought about The Last of Us, possibly the most controversial video game of all time, certainly if it wasn’t handled with care. But the adaptation of the franchise was always in good hands: Craig Mazin developed Chernobyl for HBO, and Neil Druckman is president of Naughty Dog and TLOU Co-creator. Under his watch, HBO The Last of Us has become a juggernaut success.

Its upcoming second season is based on the controversial sequel The Last of Us Part II, is a more difficult mountain to climb. With a recent slate of casting announcements to parse and the story of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsay) still aching in our hearts, it’s time to sum up everything we know so far. The Last of Us Season 2.

(For minor spoilers The Last of Us Part II Follow the video game.)

When Will The Last of Us Season 2 premiere?

HBO is targeting Season 2 for an as-yet-undetermined date in 2025. And because it seems cruel to move on from this point without any idea of ​​when Joel and Ellie will return, it’s worth noting that Craig Mazin told Variety that production will begin. On 12 February.

Where did season 1 leave off?

Road trips across America aren’t much fun when they’re mostly on foot, a fact Joel and Ellie will certainly attest to if they weren’t busy hiding/shooting from an odd array of clickers and violent raiders. in The Last of Us, the world is brought down by a fungal infestation that 1) is highly contagious and 2) turns everyone who contracts it into mushroom wraiths that bite and make clicking noises with their throats. (Hence, the name.) America, rarely united on anything, breaks into factions, even under the best of circumstances. The primary two are FEDRA, the last remnants of a militarized government, and the Fireflies, a renegade group out to find a cure for this worst epidemic.

This is how Joel, a sinister, violent smuggler, hardened by the senseless loss of his daughter, confronts Ellie. Ellie, it turns out, is immune. So Joel is tasked with getting her out west to a hidden Firefly outpost where doctors can turn Ellie’s immune system into a cure.

At first, this 14-year-old kid, armed with a switchblade, bad puns, and a level of profanity that would have stunned a sailor, grates on Joel’s nerves somewhat horribly. Those who are familiar with the concept of drama can understand how long it takes for this fragile young man to melt the cold heart of this ordinary old man.

The Last of Us is famous – perhaps infamous – for its extreme plot developments and character decisions, an aspect of the franchise embraced by its television cousin. The first game and Season 1 ended on a bittersweet note with Ellie being saved from Firefly by Joel, who was preparing her for surgery that might have saved the world from the Cordyceps virus but would have killed Ellie. Joel’s decision results in a surprising loss of life as he cuts a path to save his unborn daughter. When Ellie approaches, Joel – lying to himself more than her, clearly – says that the cure is impossible and that the fireflies have released them.

Ellie, wise beyond her years, knows something is wrong with that story. So, the season ends with her asking Joel to swear that his story is true. He does it without skipping a beat, and she says it’s okay—though it’s clear that nothing will ever be okay for Ellie and Joel, ever again.

why is The Last of Us Part II So controversial, anyway?

That’s a hell of a question. Simply put, The Last of Us Joel, Ellie, and those around them are left in limbo, and the sequel follows this story to its dramatic climax. If you haven’t played The Last of Us Part II And having successfully avoided spoiling its major plot points, it’s best to continue to thrive in ignorance until 2025 — because when Season 2 drops, it will hurt.

How many episodes are there? The Last of Us Season 2?

According to HowLongToBeat.com, 2013 The Last of Us is a 14-1/2-hour game (or about 23 hours for completionists). Season 1 clocked in at 8-3/4 hours, swapping the game’s combat and crafting aspects to explore side characters, notably Nick Offerman’s wily apocalypse prepper and a subplot that introduced a villain played by Melanie Lynskey. Spent more than an hour. Its sequel season won’t have the luxury of telling such a financial story.

With an expanded character roster, bigger threats and a bigger American scope, The Last of Us Part II 24 hours (or 42-1/2 to maximize all available content) is a pretty big game. Mazin has stated that because of this length and how it tells two intertwining stories, it is likely that season 2 will extend into a third. Fans of the show’s brand of emotional destruction should brace themselves, and gamers who remember the tiresome discourse surrounding the 2020 sequel should at least be worth two more years.

when does The Last of Us Season 2 takes place?

While not officially the case, a safe bet is that Season 2 will be set five years after the events of Season 1, as The Last of Us Part II. (In the series’ timeline, it would premiere the show in 2028, or three years after its estimated release date.) That puts Ellie at 19 or 20 years old and Joel, 56, at 61 in season 1.

where is The Last of Us Season 2 set?

In Season 1, Ellie and Joel meet up with Joel’s younger brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) in Jackson, Wyoming, a wealthy survivor community borrowed from The Last of Us Part II. (In the first game, they met at a hydroelectric dam.) We saw our terrible twosome back at the city’s outposts by the end of Season 1, so expect that Jackson (recreated in Alberta, Canada, where the season was filmed) The starting point from which Scattered Season 2 will grow.

It has been reported that HBO will expand production from Alberta to British Columbia, on top of Seattle, Washington, which is its primary location. The Last of Us Part II. The game also takes a trip to Southern California, but to say why is to spoil everything, so it’s best to leave it at that.

Who’s in the cast of The Last of Us Season 2?

In keeping with HBO’s bloody tradition of TV style, The Last of Us No bones about killing off important characters. So, naturally, the returning cast will be small: Pedro Pascal and Bela Ramsey are reprising their roles as Joel and Ellie, albeit in older versions. Gabriel Luna returns as Joel’s baby brother Tommy, and while there is no official confirmation of when he will return, Rutina Weasley (Queen Sugar) is expected to return as Jackson’s semi-leader Maria. (Come on: her character is pregnant, and she’s married to Tommy!)

S TLOU While he may bop around the timeline when dramatic reasons call for it, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Tess is played. Mindhunterof Anna Torv, may make a cameo in a flashback (she was important to Joel, after all). Just don’t expect to see much from Season 1 standout Bill, Offerman’s incurable prepper with a heart of gold; Mazin says Bill’s days are over.

No, Season 2 has its hands full by bringing in its massive character roster The Last of Us Part II for life. Young Mazino (Beef) will co-star as Jesse, a Jackson scout who “puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.” Singer Isabella Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), whose romance with Ellie and past with Jessie would make a perfect capital love triangle for the series. (Dina was the girl you saw Eli eyeing from afar in Jackson in Season 1.)

Other characters from The Last of Us Part II (co-created by Druckman and writer Haley Gross) will appear in Season 2. There’s Lev (originally portrayed in motion capture by Ian Alexander, who has expressed interest in reprising the role) and Yara (Victoria Grace), a pair of siblings who consequently factor into the game’s plot. Of course, saying how or why is prohibited. And don’t forget about Manny (Fear the Walking Dead’s Alejandro Edda) and Owen (Patrick Fugit), two companions in Abby’s orbit who bring much-needed good humor to the jet-black world. The Last of Us. Further casting preparations are underway.

Most crucially, Caitlin Dever (Someone will save you), who was once in the running to play Ellie before securing the role of Ramsay, will co-star as the formidable Abby. (As it turns out, Dever is already a Naughty Dog veteran, since she portrayed Casey Drake Carefree 4: A Thief’s End.) production is currently tight-lipped about what direction Abby will take, but it diplomatically casts her as “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks revenge for those she once loved.” .” Considering Abby’s brutal combat skills in the game, Dever is likely hitting the gym as we speak.

i should play The Last of Us And The Last of Us Part II?

Yes, with caveats. The Last of Us An immersive experience that some would argue is richer than Season 1, with more cathartic clicker action and quieter interludes where Joel (Troy Baker) and Ellie (Ashley Johnson) learn a lot about each other through their actions and dialogue. If you liked Season 1 and want to see more of these two hard-scrabble rascals, playing the game is highly recommended.

Part II In many ways, the experience is more desperate and violent, just as rich, if not more dramatically complex. It’s a shocking, revealing game and, as noted earlier, too long for a third-person adventure. If you are ready to discover all the secrets of the upcoming second season of HBO The Last of UsNot to mention its potential third season, to boot, then go for it: Naughty Dog just released a remastered version of the game for PlayStation 5. Don’t come crying to us when your heart shatters into a million pieces. .

Jarrod Jones is a freelance writer currently based in Chicago. He reads lots (and lots) of comics and, as a result, is kind of a dunderhead.