The Last of Us Season 1 took some liberties when compared to the game, particularly with the acclaimed third episode. And according to HBO head of drama Francesca Orsi, the creative team has more in store for The Last of Us Season 2 and beyond.
The Last of Us Season 2 will also (obviously) have “a couple of new pieces of casting”
Orsi gave some of these new details to Deadline in an interview discussing HBO’s future. She explained that The Last of Us Season 2 was being delayed by the writers strike and teased some of what’s to come.
“There will be a couple of new pieces of casting, which I can’t get into,” said Orsi. “And of course, there isn’t much that we can go into on The Last of Us, given that Craig can’t really initiate in any meaningful way from a writing or casting standpoint. But he and Neil have a good sense of what it is that he’s going to be taking on. We’ll be moving the show from Calgary to Vancouver. All I can say is he’s taking a big swing from both an entertainment standpoint, related to the clickers, but also just the more nuanced, complex character dynamic between our characters, Joel, Ellie, and beyond.”
She elaborated on the “beyond” part shortly after, saying that a third season hasn’t been completely planned out yet, but writers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have a “vision” for it.
“I think Craig and Neil are still figuring out where they’re going to come to an end,” said Orsi. “We have loosely heard that there will be a Season 3 idea for the series, but at this point, we’re taking it one season at a time. There’s no guarantee at this point that we’ll have a Season 3 but I know that they both have a vision for Season 3. Whether that lends itself to doing more [seasons], I don’t know yet.”
Mazin and Druckmann have spoken broadly about the show’s future and said that The Last of Us Part II’s events will span over multiple seasons and will have all sorts of infected, while also noting that the team also doesn’t feel “constrained” by the source material.
