Get those knapsacks and blunt objects ready because “The Last of Us” Season 2 is about to take you on one hell of a journey. Headed to HBO and Max on April 13, the second installment in the hit post-apocalyptic TV series comes over two years after the first season aired, but looks to reward viewers for their patience with an epic season still centered around the relationship between Bella Ramsey‘s Ellie and Pedro Pascal‘s Joel, but also full of new characters played by Jeffrey Wright, Kaitlyn Dever, Young Mazino, Catherine O’Hara, and Joe Pantoliano. Watch the trailer for Season 2 below.
“The Last of Us” is based on the popular video game series of the same name, with Season 1 serving as a relatively faithful adaptation of the overarching plot of the first game and Season 2 set to do the same with “Part II.” In fact, Wright is set to play the same role he originated in the game. The first season premiered in March 2023 to huge ratings, strong critical praise, and ultimately a number of awards, including eight wins at the Creative Arts Emmys, a SAG Award for Pascal, and recognition by the DGA and WGA.
During the awards race that year, IndieWire spoke to the co-creator Craig Mazin on the vital element love plays to the plot. “To the extent that it might start to feel iterative, all I can say is it’s the problem — love is the problem,” he said. “It’s the problem now. It’s the problem for all of us. And we don’t like to think of it that way, but it is. The odds are that we all will do something beautiful and sacrificial and admirable because of love. And also, all of us are going to do something terrible because of love, something destructive or violent or cruel. Because we’ve invented a word for a part of us we have no control over.”
That love seems to be tested with Season 2, as the relatively stable life Ellie and Joel have found in the community of Jackson, Wyoming is upended by the rising presence of infected clickers and a possible invading force led by Dever’s Abby. Fans of the video game will know the key part she plays in the second half of the story between the makeshift father and daughter, though it’s unclear how directly Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann (creator of the original game) will follow this plot and how much they will expand on it. The show has already been renewed for Season 3 and Mazin says a fourth isn’t out of the question.
Watch the trailer for Season 2 below.
