Summary
The Last of Usdirector Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann have claimed that the story of The Last of Us Part 2 could be adapted over three seasons, as it’s been revealed that Season 2 will be just seven episodes long.
The Last of Us Season 2 is well underway atHBO, as weget ready for distress and tragedyas the second game’s story is adapted in heartbreaking detail. Many assumed that, just like the first season, the entirety of The Last of Us Part 2’s story would be adapted in Season 2, thougha new Deadline interviewwith director Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has revealed the story may actually be told across three seasons.
For starters, it has been confirmed that The Last of Us Season 2 will run for just seven episodes, which is a little less than the first season’s total of nine, and ends at a natural “breaking point” in the story. Given that The Last of Us Part 2 is a much bigger game than the original, and focuses on multiple characters rather than just Joel and Ellie, it seems as though adapting Part 2’s story is going to spill over into a potential Season 3.
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In fact, there’s the possibility that three seasons will be needed to tell the game’s entire story, as Mazin believes he may not be able to tell the story the way he wants “even within two seasons”. A lot of that will be due to the “interesting pathways” that Mazin wants to go down, similar to the way in whichthe first season explored the backstories of characters like Bill for the first time.
“One thing is absolutely for sure, I don’t see how we could tell the story that remains after Season 2 is complete in one more season,” - Craig Mazin
Despite Season 2’s fairly short length, Mazin goes on to explain that not every season will be the same, as a potential Season 3 would be “significantly larger” than what we’ve seen so far. HBO has yet to publicly greenlight anything past Season 2, but given how successful the first season of the show was, and the second season is likely to be, it’s difficult to imagine HBO passing up the opportunity to ride the gravy train for as long as it can.
