The first four seasons of Game of Thrones are considered by many fans of the show and the source books by author George R.R. Martin alike to be some of the best television ever made and a consummate example of adapting source material for the small screen medium. That was of course, until the showrunners ran out of said source material from GRRM and had to wing it in the latter seasons, especially those leading up to the show’s divisive ending.
Fortunately, that same mistake won’t be made with HBO’s The Last of Us, according to the game’s creator Neil Druckmann and showrunner Craig Mazin.
Joel and Ellie getting some food/Max
“I am not going to go past the game. I’ll just say that flat out,” Mazin said in an interview when asked if The Last of Us series might continue the storyline of the games if the second season proves popular and is able to be made before another The Last of Us game is made.
“I’m basically setting a decade of my rapidly dwindling life on fire to tell this story,” Mazin continued, clarifying that he doesn’t plan on making a season of the show just for a “cash grab.”
He added, “The show is so hard to make. It has to have an end. So I’m not going to go past. Who knows me, there might be a Dunk and Egg The Last of Us [Dunk and Egg being a spinoff of Game of Thrones] show that happens that somebody does. But for me, the only question is: Is it going to be one more season or will it require two more? If this can happen all in one more season, great. If we feel like it makes sense to break it into two, then we will do that.”
While information on The Last of Us Season 2 has been sparse thus far, Mazin added that the tone of Season 2 could be compared to the second season in the original Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back.
“I think about that a lot — because I love The Empire Strikes Back, and I think everybody should,” Mazin explained. “We love that one because the second act is the tough act. That’s when everything is challenged and characters go through these moments where they can’t be who they used to be, but they’re also not ready to be who they’re supposed to be. There’s a sense of feeling lost. And I love that.”
Mazin added that the characters of Joel and Ellie got away with some plot armor and luck in the first season of the show. This season however, “They aren’t getting away with s—.”
The Last of Us Season 2 is set to premiere on Max on April 13th. The series will see Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return as main protagonists Joel and Ellie respectively. Gabriel Luna will return as Joel’s brother Tommy and Rutina Wesley will return as Maria, Tommy’s wife.
Are you happy that The Last of Us series won’t make the same mistake that Game of Thrones did and go past the source material? Let us know in the comments.
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