HBO's The Last of Us is finally set to air in just a handful of days, giving the title its first outing in another medium. We may have yet to actually see the events of the first season play out, but creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have already been answering questions about a potential Season 2.
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter (thanks Business Insider), Mazin and Druckmann speak a little bit about what could happen in future seasons of the show, pretty much shooting down any hopes fans may have had about original stories being told. Using Game of Thrones as an example of the problems of straying too far from the source material, Druckmann states that the team on HBO's The Last of Us have "no plans" to tell any stories besides the ones in the games themselves.
"We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games," says Druckmann. "We won’t run into the same issue as Game of Thrones since Part II doesn’t end on a cliffhanger."
Since it's been confirmed that the first season of The Last of Us will adapt the entirety of the first game, we can pretty much assume that any further seasons of the show will adapt the sequel. Although, the fact that the creators don't intend to tell any original stories besides the game does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Druckmann's preference to avoid straying too far from the games themselves and pointing to Game of Thrones as an example of what could potentially go wrong feels a little disingenuous, mainly because of his roles in The Last of Us games and TV show. Druckmann has far more of a role in the production of the show than George R. R. Martin did in the production of Game of Thrones' later seasons, so any original stories told within HBO's The Last of Us would be coming straight from the source.
Fans of the series will know that there's a significant time skip between the events of The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2, with key moments during that period told through flashbacks in the second game. Personally, I think it would have been more interesting to see that time period fleshed out a little more in The Last of Us TV show, giving audiences more time with Joel and Ellie. Games are much more of a time sink than TV shows and movies, meaning more time is needed to explore the relationship between the two to give (spoilers, I guess) Joel's eventual demise much more of a punch.
Plus, are you really telling me you're going to get an actor like Pedro Pascal – who seems to have absolutely nailed the part of Joel – and then kill him off right at the start of a second season? Not cool guys, not cool at all.
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