After The Last of Us TV series was renewed for a second season at HBO it had gamers wondering how they would manage bringing The Last of Us Part II into live-action. The first season of the show was able to fit all of the first game into its nine episodes, but the scope of the 2020 sequel is much bigger by comparison as it has a non-linear narrative and multiple POVs. To mark the celebration of the annual “Outbreak Day,” HBO debuted the first full teaser trailer for The Last of Us season 2, and in the process have seemingly answered this major question. Spoilers for The Last of Us Part II video game will follow.

Central to The Last of Us Part II game’s narrative are two paths that players follow, playing as Ellie on her quest for revenge and playing as Abby, a new character that is navigating a different conflict in Seattle. Though the first hour of the game goes back and forth between the two characters, most of the game is playing from the perspective of Ellie. The Last of Us Part II has a crucial point about halfway through where the game stops and switches to Abby’s perspective, forcing players to take on the role of the character that has been the subject of Ellie’s bloodlust this entire time. To make things even more agonizing, a major boss fight while playing as Abby forces you to confront and attack Ellie herself. All that in mind, gamers have been wondering, how will The Last of Us season 2 handle the dual narrative and where in the story will it end?

Now, having all that context about the game, we can look to what was revealed in the trailer for season 2. Based on the footage presented we can surmise at least two things: 1. It appears that The Last of Us season 2 may only cover up to the events of “Seattle Day 1” as seen in The Last of Us Part II; 2. The TV series will bring in elements of Abby’s storyline to be told simultaneously with what is happening with Ellie. So even though some non-linear elements may still be present (Ellie confronting Joel on his porch is seen in the trailer and is like a dagger to the heart for players), it appears The Last of Us show will be unfolding the story as it happens for viewers rather than deliberately keeping them in the dark.

We can surmise this about The Last of US season 2 from two major shots in the trailer, the first showing Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby standing by a grave with a pendant on it (a clue that the new season will go into her backstory), but also we see Jeffrey Wright’s Isaac in a key moment. As those that player the game will know, Isaac isn’t introduced into The Last of Us Part II until much later, well after switching to Abby’s POV, so revealing not only his presence but showing him in THAT location at least implies a major chunk of Abby’s story will be told, and will seemingly be done alongside Ellie’s.

Yet another another major clue that the trailer revealed about how far The Last of Us season 2 will get into the plot of The Last of Us Part II is that there’s a substantial amount of footage which shows what Ellie and Dina get up to during the events of “Seattle Day 1.” This includes not only them in the record store, but moments of the pair running through the dilapidated subway system of Seattle. This sequence in The Last of Us Part II game coincides with the conclusion of the Seattle Day 1 section of Ellie’s side of the game, perhaps indicating that this is where the season will come to a close as it offers not only a firm end point but could set up even more interesting flashbacks for season 3.

A final element of The Last of Us season 2 that perhaps indicates this is how far the series will get into the events of The Last of Us Part II is something that’s actually not seen at all. Two major characters, Lev and Yara, are absent from the trailer, but to take it a step further, their casting hasn’t even been confirmed, announced, teased, or alluded to by HBO. This seems to point toward the pair not appearing in the events of The Last of Us season 2. Something to note however is that an unnamed Seraphite member is seen in the trailer, walking through the woods. Perhaps the series will be setting the stage for Lev and Yara’s arrival in the series in a potential season 3 of The Last of Us and instead will be using season 2 as a chance to really introduce the cult and its members to viewers.

HBO has already confirmed that The Last of Us season 2 will arrive in 2025, meaning that if viewers have to wait until season 2 for Lev and Yara they may not see them until 2027. The story of The Last of Us Part II game is dense, so there will need to be at least one moment (maybe two!) where the TV series has to decide that they’re going to wrap things up even as more story remains to be told. For The Last of Us season 2, at least, it seems like they’ve told viewers where that point is.

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HBO’s The Last of Us season 2 has revealed its first full trailer, and put a dagger into the hearts of gamers that played The Last of Us Part II. It’s not confirmed exactly when the series will return with more episodes, but we do know that The Last of Us will return in 2025. We also know that the next season of the series will only be partially adapting the events of the sequel video game, but if the wait is too much for you we’re going to dissect what happens in broad strokes. Full Spoilers for The Last of Us Part II video game will follow.

Released seven years after Naughty Dog’s original game, The Last of Us Part II picks up not too long after the events of the first game. Having returned to Jackson, Joel confesses to his brother Tommy what he did in Salt Lake City to the Fireflies, confiding the truth in him and swearing him to secrecy. For the bulk of The Last of Us Part II the plot is set about four years later, with a now 19-year-old Ellie having firmly established herself as a permanent member of the community in Jackson along with Joel. She has friends, romantic partners, and takes patrols to make sure their town is safe from infected.

Joel’s big moment in The Last of Us Part II

The primary driving incident of The Last of Us Part II however stems directly from the ending of The Last of Us. Introduced near the start of the game is a new character, Abby, who is clearly working with friends to reach Jackson. After being ambushed by infected, Abby is saved by Joel and Tommy, which is when the trap is largely sprung and this new character’s intentions are revealed. One of the many people Joel killed in The Last of Us‘ final minutes, perhaps the most important one, the doctor that was intending to operate on Ellie, had a daughter of his own…Abby. Now having found the killer of her father, Abby takes things into her own hands, and kills Joel. Through a matter of necessary narrative circumstance, Ellie happens to be present too and sees it all happen.

This becomes the big plot driver for the game, sending Ellie on another cross-country trip in search of revenge. After figuring out that Abby and her friends came from Seattle, Ellie and her new girlfriend Dina make the trip to the west coast in search of the people that wronged her. Their pursuit begins as a favor to Maria, as Tommy has already left before them with the same quest in mind, but as their journey continues Ellie’s thirst for vengeance begins to consume her. Ellie’s journey through Seattle sees her killing a lot of people, including many of the people that helped Abby get to Jackson, only for her eventual confrontation with Abby to trigger a twist in the game.

The Last of Us Part II’s surprise playable character

Right after Abby and Ellie finally meet, The Last of Us Part II flashes back to when Ellie first arrived in Seattle but has players actually play as Abby in the game and follow her journey in that same time frame. This eventually leads to the confrontation with Ellie and forces players to go up against Ellie in a boss fight. This, coupled with Joel’s death, made The Last of Us Part II incredibly controversial upon release to some fans of the series. While playing as Abby, players found themselves in a story not unlike Joel’s from the first game (complete with taking in a young character under their wing). As a result, those that perhaps had conflicted feelings about playing as Joel’s killer find themselves the subject of a lot of introspection; hopefully wondering why they had no problem playing as a tough-as-nails, no-nonsense killer in the first game but were uncomfortable with it in the second.

For the most part, The Last of Us Part II is told largely in a non-linear fashion. Elements of Ellie’s story, and even Abby’s, are peppered throughout the gameplay with the full picture not even fully visible until the conclusion. One of the biggest reveals, about halfway through the game, is that Joel and Ellie had become estranged after she returned to Salt Lake City and figured out he had lied to her at the end of the first The Last of Us. The final piece of the puzzle doesn’t happen until the end of the game, when Ellie relents on her quest to kill Abby and actually lets her live. Distraught and broken, Ellie recalls the last conversation she had with Joel, wherein they began to reconcile and she told him that she would forgive him, all of which happened the night before he was killed.

That’s the big story beats of The Last of Us Part II. We left out some details to help preserve some of the story because it is best experienced in some way or another; be it the game or the eventual episodes of the TV show. How will The Last of Us TV series handle all of this though? Luckily that’s for the show’s creators to decide, but one thing they’ve already indicated is that the storyline of The Last of Us Part II is perhaps too big for just one season of TV.

“I think that the amount of story that remains that we have not covered would be more than a season of television,” series co-creator Craig Mazin previously told io9 about future seasons. “So assuming we can keep going forward, the idea would be to do more than just one more season. But this isn’t the kind of show that is going to be seven seasons.”

The Last of Us Part II earned a lot of praise at the time of its release for how it combated with player perceptions and ideals, forcing you into new points of view to further challenge you. When it comes to the television series it will be interesting to not only see how they handle this in an entirely different storytelling medium, but what parts of the game’s story they will choose to alter, or even expand on.

It is worth noting though that the first season of The Last of Us TV series has already begun to plant seeds for the storyline of The Last of Us Part II. Elements of the city of Jackson were introduced in the TV show that weren’t actually seen in the game, and the tease of a couple of characters has also already happened. You can learn more about that below.

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Today should be a very exciting day for most PlayStation fans. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening today, including the release of the first trailer for The Last of Us Season 2. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of people just aren’t in the mood to celebrate. The trailer had some unfortunate timing, dropping shortly after a whole lot of people tried (and failed) to get the PlayStation 5 Pro Console – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition BundIe. Fans haven’t really had time to get over their frustrations, and they’re bringing them up in the replies to all of PlayStation’s posts on X/Twitter, including the one sharing the trailer for TLOU. 

“Thanks for screwing me on the website!!! There’s nothing better than waiting over an hour just to be kicked from PlayStation direct to then wait another hour just so I can get the damn remote,” writes one user. Meanwhile, another user shared a screenshot from eBay showing multiple bundles being resold for thousands of dollars more than their asking price. The situation has clearly made a lot of people upset, and it remains to be seen whether PlayStation will be able to rectify things in some way. It would be nice if the company made more of these bundles available so fans can get one without spending an arm and a leg, but it remains to be seen if that will actually happen. 

While several comments like this could be found throughout the replies to The Last of Us Season 2 trailer, it’s worth noting that they have become the minority. A lot more of the responses are from people excited about the show, with many fans sharing both enthusiasm and dread about seeing the events of The Last of Us Part II adapted. Many fans are making (not so subtle) references to the major death that happens in the game, while others are outright talking about it. If you aren’t aware of what happens in the game, you may want to steer clear of any comment sections on social media or YouTube related to the show until Season 2 drops! 

Are you still frustrated about how the 30th Anniversary Bundles were handled today? Have you been airing your frustrations on social media? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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Earlier today, the first full-length trailer for The Last of Us Season 2 debuted as part of The Last of Us Day 2024 festivities, and it’s no surprise that Spin Master chose this moment to debut this Joel and Ellie action figure 2-pack, which is based on the characters from the PlayStation games. It’s a pretty fantastic set overall, with 19  accessories that include Joel’s revolver, shotgun, and machete, and Ellie’s bow, arrow, pistol, and switchblade.There are also multiple swappable hands and a backpack for both figures. 

Pre-orders for The Last of Us Season 2 figure set are available now here at Entertainment Earth and here on Amazon priced at $49.99. Note that U.S. shipping is free at Entertainment Earth on orders over $99, and there’s a flat $7.95 shipping fee on all orders below that threshold. All orders include a mint condition guarantee. 

In addition to the trailer and action figure set, Naughty Dog is celebrating The Last of Us Day 2024 with the release of The Last of Us Part I on PlayStation Plus. There will also be TLOU-themed Avatars, PlayStation Gear discounts, and PlayStation Stars challenges. As for Steam users, they can purchase new TLOU-themed animated stickers, avatars, and more via the Steam Points Shop.

HBO The Last of Us Season 2 Release Date

Despite the release of the trailer today, there isn’t a firm release date for The Last of Us Season 2 on Max, though it is expected to arrive at some point in 2025. However, they wrapped up filming in August, with the majority of filming taking place in Canada. With filming wrapped, The Last of Us can now concentrate on post-production.

“The way we approach it, we start at the beginning of the season, and we break the season, and we look at the game. Our goal is to tell the best story possible,” Last of Us creator Druckmann said. “And then our process is to just look at the content we have in the game and say, ‘OK, what are things that we both just overwhelmingly love and feel could be adapted as is?’ And we just put little check marks by those index cards to say, ‘OK, those things could just stay as is,’ and that becomes building blocks.”

Along with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey returning as Joel and Ellie, respectively, the seven-episode second season of The Last of Us stars series newcomers Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You) as the revenge-seeking Abby, Merced (Madame Web) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, Danny Ramirez (Captain America: Brave New World) as Manny, Ariela Barer (Runaways) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (Uncharted) as Nora, Wright (The Batman) as Isaac Dixon, and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara as an as-yet-unrevealed original character.

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The first full-length trailer for Season 2 of The Last of Us has been revealed. Throughout the first portion of 2024, The Last of Us Season 2 was in the process of filming. A little more than a month ago, production finally wrapped up which naturally led fans to wonder when a proper trailer for this new run of episodes would be unveiled. Now, to coincide with “The Last of Us Day”, our best look at Season 2 yet has now arrived. 

Clocking in around two minutes in length, this initial teaser for The Last of Us Season 2 highlights many scenes that those who have played The Last of Us Part II should be familiar with. Outside of showing off Joel and Ellie, the video also happens to highlight new characters in S2 such as Dina (Isabela Merced), Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), and an unknown character portrayed by Catherina O’Hara. The trailer then features backing music from Pearl Jam’s “Future Days”, which is a song that is integral to the plot of TLOU Part II. 

You can watch this trailer for Season 2 of The Last of Us right here: 

Outside of this new trailer, HBO has also shared three new posters for the next season of The Last of Us. Three character posters in total have been revealed with one dedicated to Ellie, Joel, and Abby respectively. Each poster features art from Greg Ruth and hints at some of the larger plotlines that will developer in the series moving forward. 

The only downside of this new trailer for The Last of Us Season 2 is that it remains without a firm release date. At the trailer’s conclusion, it only reiterates that Season 2 will arrive at some point in 2025. Based on previous production timelines for Season 1, it’s incredibly likely that Season 2 will begin airing during the first half of next year. Regardless of when it specifically releases, we should begin to learn more in the weeks and months ahead about The Last of Us Season 2 as promotion for the show will ramp up further. 

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The creator of The Last of Us says there’s a scene in Season 2 that he knows fans “will eat up.” Neil Druckmann created The Last of Us video game franchise, and is also one of the creatives behind the hit HBO adaption. It’s been a long, hard road for TV shows and movies that attempt to adapt video games into those mediums, but Druckmann and HBO found instant success with The Last of Us. Fans of the games may have an idea of what to expect in Season 2, but Druckmann teased how The Last of Us may have some tricks up its sleeves.

Neil Druckmann was a guest on Variety‘s Strictly Business podcast, where he spoke about the pleasure he’s gotten from hearing from fans of The Last of Us video game and TV show. He also went into what has him excited about Season 2, with one scene in particulary standing out.

“What I’ve really enjoyed now is sometimes there are these people that have watched the show and then went and played the game and talked about, what a cool experience,” Druckmann said. “The game sometimes hints at stuff that we just don’t have time to get into the show that the game can, and vice versa. If you experience both, they’re both richer for it. And I love hearing that experience from people. They tell me, like, ‘I watch the show and then I play the game, and I really like how different the Bill sequence is, and that gave me this other insight into him.’ And there’s stuff in this season that I’m really excited about — stuff that we hinted at — one scene in particular comes to mind that I think fans of the game will eat up, because it really kind of tells you a lot of backstory of this important character that there wasn’t really a way for us to even do that in the game.”

The Last of Us creator reveals how HBO collaboration works

Druckmann also discussed how he works with The Last of Us head writer and executive producer Craig Mazin to break each season down. Druckmann was such a fan of Mazin’s work on HBO’s Chernobyl that he sought him out and they had lunch together. What started as Druckmann expressing his admiration for the work Mazin did on Chernobyl quickly turned to a shared appreciation for The Last of Us.

“The way we approach it, we start at the beginning of the season, and we break the season, and we look at the game. Our goal is to tell the best story possible,” Druckmann said. “And then our process is to just look at the content we have in the game and say, ‘OK, what are things that we both just overwhelmingly love and feel could be adapted as is?’ And we just put little check marks by those index cards to say, ‘OK, those things could just stay as is,’ and that becomes building blocks.”

Along with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey returning as Joel and Ellie, respectively, the seven-episode second season of The Last of Us stars series newcomers Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You) as the revenge-seeking Abby, Merced (Madame Web) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, Danny Ramirez (Captain America: Brave New World) as Manny, Ariela Barer (Runaways) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (Uncharted) as Nora, Wright (The Batman) as Isaac Dixon, and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara as an as-yet-unrevealed original character.

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Fans of The Last of Us will want to set time aside when their calendars flip to 2025. The first season of the HBO Original series concluded in March 2023, leaving fans to wait for the returns of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and all the tension existing between the two following the season finale. While Joel succeeded in saving Ellie’s life from sacrifcing herself to find a cure for the zombie outbreak, Joel killed a lot of people and lied to Ellie about it. Season 2 of The Last of Us can’t come soon enough, but according to the person in charge of programming at HBO/Max, we may not be waiting too much longer.

Deadline spoke to Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content, at a post-Emmy party, where Bloys gave some insight on when The Last of Us will return. When asked about the premiere dates for White Lotus and The Last of Us, Bloys replied, “Well, all I’ll say now, generally first half of the year, I expect them to be in the Emmy window.” The first half of 2025 would mean Season 2 of The Last of Us should debut before the end of May, with possibly six episodes out by then in order to be in the running for Emmy consideration.

Will The Last of Us Season 1 get any Emmy nominations in 2025?

With The Last of Us being absent in 2024, that means it wasn’t up for any Emmy nominations when the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards were awarded this weekend. However, if the new season of The Last of Us does come out in the early part of 2025, it will be eligble for noms, as well as House of the Dragon Season 2. This could give HBO some more firepower to add to its Emmy list, after shocking the industry with its win of the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy with Hacks overtaking the heavy favorite, The Bear.

Casey Bloys also gave a small tease for The Last of Us‘ upcoming season, stating, “I think everybody is going to love what [co-creator] Craig [Mazin] is doing.” 

HBO wraps filming on The Last of Us Season 2

The Last of Us wrapped up its filming of Season 2 in August, with the majority of filming taking place in Canada. With filming wrapped, The Last of Us can now concentrate on post-production.

Timothy Good, an editor for The Last of Us, informed fans on social media that Season 2 has now completed filming. Good posted a handful of images from a recent wrap party that was held to celebrate this milestone. The party didn’t only feature the production crew of TLOU, but the area in which it was held featured a ton of iconography tied to the series. As for Good, he implied that his work on Season 2 can now begin more directly as he begins to edit this new slate of episodes. 

Along with Pascal and Ramsey returning as Joel and Ellie, the seven-episode second season stars series newcomers Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You) as the revenge-seeking Abby, Merced (Madame Web) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, Danny Ramirez (Captain America: Brave New World) as Manny, Ariela Barer (Runaways) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (Uncharted) as Nora, Wright (The Batman) as Isaac Dixon, and two-time Emmy winner O’Hara as an as-yet-unrevealed original character.

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Alien: Romulus viewers have been drawing comparisons between the Alien movie’s protagonist, Rain, and Ellie from The Last of Us nonstop since the movie’s premiere, but as it turns out, there is an actual connection between the movie and game that’s been confirmed by the director. It doesn’t have anything to do with Cailee Spaeny’s character Rain and Ellie, however, and instead deals with Kay, the pregnant character in Alien: Romulus whose pregnancy becomes a core part of the movie. Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez confirmed this week that Kay’s character was in fact inspired by Dina from The Last of Us Part 2.

Alvarez discussed the connection over on X after one of many people asked him if he’d played The Last of Us. He confirmed that he had and said that he was actually playing The Last of Us Part 2 when writing Alien: Romulus. Upon seeing that Dina was pregnant in the game, he found inspiration for Kay.

“Fun fact: I was playing #TheLastOfUs2 while writing #AlienRomulus,” he said on X. “The story of a pregnant Dina made me think of having the character of Kay be pregnant too. Then I cast Isabella Merced to play Kay…. A year later she gets cast to play Dina on the HBO show…. True story.”

As Alvarez pointed out, the relationship here is even more uncanny than a normal inspiration for the character given that actress Isabella Merced played Kay in Alien: Romulus and has also been cast as Dina in the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us TV show. We haven’t seen Merced in the show yet since Season 2 has yet to be released, but we’ve heard plenty from her about her character’s relationship with Ellie as well as what it’s been like working on some of the tougher parts of Season 2. The next season has wrapped filming now, but it doesn’t have a release date yet.

As for Alien: Romulus, Alvarez has been revealing more and more details like these now that the movie’s out with people realizing that there are probably several things they didn’t pick up on during their first watch. There’s of course the question of whether or not we’ll see Rain in another Alien movie in the future, perhaps as a sequel to Alien: Romulus, but nothing’s been confirmed at this time.

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Production on Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us has now reached its end. Throughout the entirety of 2024, The Last of Us has been filming across various locations in Canada. Shooting on Season 2 was known to be drawing close to its conclusion based on previous schedules that had been leaked to the public. Now, though, it’s known that The Last of US Season 2 has officially wrapped, which now begins the post-production process. 

Posted on social media, Timothy Good, an editor for The Last of Us, informed fans that Season 2 has now completed filming. Good posted a handful of images from a recent wrap party that was held to celebrate this milestone. The party didn’t only feature the production crew of TLOU, but the area in which it was held featured a ton of iconography tied to the series. As for Good, he implied that his work on Season 2 can now begin more directly as he begins to edit this new slate of episodes. 

Even though The Last of Us Season 2 has finished the filming process, we still don’t know exactly when it will be debuting. Currently, HBO has only broadly confirmed that the acclaimed TV series is set to return at some point in 2025. A more defined window within the year has yet to be committed to, but based on timelines associated with Season 1, a release in the first half of 2025 seems very likely. 

If nothing else, though, Season 2 now being in the can suggests that a lengthier trailer for The Last of Us could come about relatively soon. Earlier this month, revealed the first footage from the second season of The Last of Us which featured just enough to get fans excited. Still, many have wondered when a full-length teaser for The Last of Us Season 2 will arrive. While no timelines have been given, we’re definitely inching closer to such a reveal. 

In the interim, PlayStation remastered The Last of Us Part II earlier in 2024 and released it for PlayStation 5. Season 2 (and beyond) of The Last of Us TV series is set to be based on the events of this game so if you haven’t played it for yourself yet, it’s readily available on PS5. 

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Joining the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us live-action series is Kaitlyn Dever stepping into the role of Abby Anderson, an antagonist to Joel and Ellie that has been hated since The Last of Us 2 released. Unfortunately for Dever, some people take this hatred to a level that raised concern on set, as was revealed by fellow cast member Isabela Merced who said that her co-star needed extra security on set because of people who “genuinely hate” her character. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast per Variety, Merced said, “There’s so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Kaitlyn had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this.”

Dever’s casting in the Season 2 of The Last of Us has faced fairly consistent backlash since its initial announcement, with gamers used to a specific appearance for the antagonist too often taking their concerns over Dever not being muscular enough for the role to a harmful level, hence the concerns on set that resulted in upped security for the cast newcomer. Combined with the fact that Abby is a character who has never really had very much of a fanbase or many “apologists” to begin with, it’s not hard to imagine being in this position could be difficult. 

“What confuses me is the showrunner and creator of the video game, they work together to make this, so if you like what the guy made and he’s making more of it, why are you mad? I’m too opinionated to be on Twitter. I see this stuff on Twitter, and it makes me want to go Cardi B on them,” Merced continued. “Kaitlyn is such a cool person who does not get phased by things. She really had her head in the right place, and also is going through a lot personally right now. It’s devastating to see, but also give her the damn Emmy, honestly. I’m so excited for people to see how incredibly well Bella and Kaitlyn did on this.”

Dever and Merced are both newcomers to Season 2, with other additions to the cast led by Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal including Ariela Barer, Catherine O’Hara, Danny Ramirez, Jeffrey Wright, Tati Gabrielle, Young Mazino, and Spencer Lord. The Last of Us season 2 will premiere in 2025.

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The Last of Us fans have a lot to look forward to in 2025, HBO and MAX debuted a new sizzle reel tonight revealing footage from upcoming shows that will arrive over the next year or so, including the next batch of episodes from The Last of Us. Though only a handful of shots from The Last of Us season 2 are revealed, among them is the first look at new cast member Kaitlyn Dever as Abby Anderson. Though a slew of set photos and videos have popped up online revealing The Last of Us season 2 characters, this marks the first time The Last of Us fans will have seen Abby Anderson in live-action.

Though only one screen for a split-second, the first footage of Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in The Last of Us season 2 is something fans of The Last of Us Part II video game will immediately recognize. Dever’s version of the character can be seen being pursued by infected, a horde of them pushing onto a fence and toppling it on top of her as she scrambles through the snow. This leads to a major moment in the video game itself which we won’t reveal, but it shows how much of the 2020 video game will make it onto the screen in the second season of HBO’s hit series. 

When news of Kaitlyn Dever’s casting as Abby in The Last of Us season 2 hit, it came with some surprise considering the major physical differences in Abby and Ellie in The Last of Us Part II video game. By contrast, the Booksmart and No One Will Save You star was previously a fan-favorite to play Ellie when the potential of a The Last of Us adaptation was first flirted with by Hollywood. One person that was very excited to see Dever take the role is voice actor and performer Laura Bailey, who voiced and provided the motion capture for Abby in The Last of Us Part II. 

“Huge congrats, Kaitlyn!,” Bailey posted on X back in January. “So excited to see Abby’s evolution in your performance! Let me know if you want a workout buddy. 💪”

Based on previous talk from The Last of Us creators about the TV series it seems very likely that Kaitlyn Dever will portray Abby not only in The Last of Us season 2 but in future seasons. It was previously confirmed that the second game is expected to be adapted into multiple seasons.

“Our focus is the two games,” Neil Druckmann previously told Deadline. “As Craig mentioned, there’s quite a bit of material there that we’re taking our time with, and we’re looking at each piece individually to make sure it’s got its own arc, its own journey that the characters go on, but there is a grander plan that ties all the seasons together.”

Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us has been confirmed to be just seven episodes, two shorter than season one’s nine episode total. The shorter episode count for the season will set the stage for potential seasons 3 and 4.

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“I can’t walk on the path of the right because I’m wrong,” a guitar-strumming Ellie sings in The Last of Us Part II video game. But in HBO’s The Last of Us season 2 — which just dropped its first footage (below) in a trailer for what’s still to come on the Max streaming service in 2024 and 2025 — it’s Joel (Pedro Pascal) who has done wrong. “Did you hurt her?” Catherine O’Hara’s unnamed character can be heard asking in the teaser, referring to Ellie (Bella Ramsey). “No,” a tearful Joel answers. “I saved her.”

The footage, which is featured alongside new looks at HBO Original Series The Penguin, The White Lotus, The Gilded Age, Dune: Prophecy, It: Welcome to Derry, and the Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, also offers a glimpse at season 2 cast members Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced, and Jeffrey Wright, who reprises his role from the game as Isaac Dixon.

Along with Pascal and Ramsey returning as Joel and Ellie, the seven-episode second season stars series newcomers Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You) as the revenge-seeking Abby, Merced (Madame Web) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, Danny Ramirez (Captain America: Brave New World) as Manny, Ariela Barer (Runaways) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (Uncharted) as Nora, Wright (The Batman) as Isaac Dixon, and two-time Emmy winner O’Hara as an as-yet-unrevealed original character.

The first season ended with (spoiler alert) Joel killingMarlene (Merle Dandridge) and the Fireflies to save thebitten-but-immune Ellie from a brain surgery she wouldn’t survive — aprocedure that could potentially cure the Cordyceps infection and end the fungal apocalypse. While en route to Jackson, Wyoming, Joel lied about what happened at the hospital to Ellie, who responded with: “Okay.”

“This also sets up the rest of their story in [The Last of Us Part II]. I think she sees that he’s lying,” Ashley Johnson, who voiced video game Ellie and played Ellie’s mother on the show, explained on the official Last of Us Podcast. “And the ‘okay’ is like,’Alright, we’re done. You’re not being truthful with me and I can’ttrust you.’ Like, ‘I love you, but this was one thing that my life wouldhave mattered and I could have maybe made a difference somehow. Andthat’s taken away from me now. Who I am now?'”

“‘I don’t knowthis person that I’ve gone on this journey with, that I care so muchabout, [who] is choosing to lie about something so huge,'” she continued. “And Ellie, herbulls–t detector is the best. She knows he’s lying.She feels it. She doesn’t know the extent of it. But somethings off. Soit’s like it’s not choosing to believe the lie, or it’s just like,’Okay, the rest of our relationship is gonna be a little different.'”

Craig Mazin again serves as showrunner with series co-creator Neil Druckmann on The Last of Us season 2, which airs in 2025 on HBO.

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When The Last of Us Season 2 debuts on HBO, audiences will be introduced to Dina, a major character that first appeared in The Last of Us Part II. When the game begins, Dina and Ellie are a couple and have built a life together. In Season 2, Dina will be played by actress Isabela Merced (Madame Web, Alien: Romulus). In a new interview with Total Film, Merced discussed her role in the new season, and what Dina brings to the series. While Merced was careful to avoid spoilers, she did seem to hint that Dina’s role will follow a similar path to what we saw in the PlayStation game. 

“[TLOU’s Dina is] sort of a light in Ellie’s life, in Ellie’s world. I think that’s the general consensus, because you look at the video game, too, and she is really the only one who actually gets sort of a decent ending,” Merced told Total Film. “Everyone else gets kind of screwed or dies!”

As Merced hints, The Last of Us Part II is a fairly dark game, and things don’t turn out great for the majority of the cast. The subject matter for the first game was already pretty grim, and developer Naughty Dog turned things up a notch for the sequel. That’s not too surprising given the fact that the games deal with what is (essentially) the end of the world. However, Merced believes that if she were in that position, she would handle things in a manner similar to Dina. 

“I love, more than anything, to be that light for the people in my life. And I like to make them laugh, and I like to make them understand themselves more,” Merced continued. “I just like to help in general. I think Dina’s very close to my own personality. I think we’re both very silly, and I think I would maybe handle the apocalypse in a similar way if I were in it.”

The cast in the first season of The Last of Us was highly-praised, and it will be interesting to see if new additions like Isabela Merced are just as well-received. Unfortunately, the new season does not have a release date just yet, so we don’t know when viewers will get a chance to see this take on Dina. 

Are you excited for the new season of The Last of Us? How do you feel about Isabela Merced playing Dina? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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The Last of Us creator and director Neil Druckmann has announced that filming on his episode of Season 2 of the HBO series has now wrapped. For Season 1 of The Last of Us, it marked the first time that Druckmann had directed a TV episode after having previously only served as the director of various video games. For Season 2, Druckmann opted to once again step behind the camera and helm an episode of the series, which has now concluded. 

In a post on social media, Druckmann announced that he had completed his filming for Season 2 in Vancouver. While Season 2 as a whole hasn’t finished production just yet, Druckmann’s episode is now in the can. Based on info that is currently available, Druckmann seems to have directed Episode 6 of Season 2. That being said, this episode could fall elsewhere in the season if filming was done out of order. Given that Season 2 of The Last of Us is also going to be seven episodes in total, Druckmann’s completion of his own episode implies that filming on the next run of episodes is nearly done. 

“My time in Vancouver has come to an end,” Druckmann wrote on Instagram. “I’ve had a wonderful time collaborating with some incredibly talented and kind cast and crew. Can’t wait for y’all to see what we’re cooking! And thanks to production for the best parting gift ever. Easily my favorite watch in my collection!”

The watch in question that Druckmann is referring to happens to be a replica of the one that Joel wears in The Last of Us. Those who watched Season 1 are likely familiar with the watch and its importance to the character. For Druckmann to take home one of the watches that actor Pedro Pascal potentially wore while filming is definitely a cool keepsake for the director. 

At the time of this writing, HBO hasn’t announced an exact release date for Season 2 of The Last of Us. It’s known that the show is set to return on both HBO and Max at some point in 2025. Given that filming on Season 2 looks to be nearing its end, HBO could share more news about the show’s return to airwaves at some point in the coming weeks or months. 

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HBO’s The Last of Us will return for Season 2 in 2025 with the critically acclaimed series taking on story material from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II video game, but it may not be the only stories that end up being explored. Series creator Craig Mazin says that while the HBO series won’t go beyond the source material, it will explore “unseen stories” from within the context of the games.

“As a fan, I’m thrilled that there might be a third Last of Us game,” Mazin told Deadline. “As the co-creator of this television show, there’s no world where I would want our show to go beyond the source material that people have in the world. Our show as people know it on HBO is going to cover the material from the second game and then quite a bit of material that is relevant to that story but, as I said, wanders down interesting new paths, unseen stories that were told within the context of that games’ material.”

Mazin didn’t elaborate on what those “unseen stories” entailed, but Neil Druckmann, who is not only the head of Naughty Dog but also the co-creator of the television series, echoed Mazin’s sentiments, saying that there is a “grander plan” that ties all of the seasons of The Last of Us together.

“Our focus is the two games,” Druckmann said. “As Craig mentioned, there’s quite a bit of material there that we’re taking our time with, and we’re looking at each piece individually to make sure it’s got its own arc, its own journey that the characters go on, but there is a grander plan that ties all the seasons together.”

The Last of Us Could Run For Up to Four Seasons

As for the seasons of The Last of Us that the “grander plan” ties together, Mazin also revealed that the series could last for up to four seasons as the creative team is taking its time in exploring The Last of Us Part II — though future seasons will also be dependent upon viewers tuning in.

“We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons because we’re taking our time and going down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1, too,” Mazin explained. “We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4.”

Additionally, Season 2 will have a shorter episode count than fans might expect, but that is because the writers followed “natural breakpoints” in the game when crafting the show’s narrative. As a result, Season 2 will have just seven episodes.

“The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons,” Mazin said. “When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the natural breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”

The Last of Us Season 2 is expected in 2025.

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The first season of The Last of Us on HBO received a ton of praise for how well the series adapted the iconic Naughty Dog video game. Season 2, which is currently in the works, will obviously be adapting the second game in the series, but don’t expect that entire game to be crammed into just a handful of TV episodes. According to creator Craig Mazin, HBO’s The Last of Us could last up to four seasons as the creative team takes its time exploring the story of The Last of Us Part II.

“We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story even within two seasons because we’re taking our time and going down interesting pathways which we did a little bit in Season 1 too,” Mazin told Deadline. “We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that – as long as people keep watching and we can keep making more television – Season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require Season 4.”

During the same interview, Mazin went on to double down on the idea that The Last of Us would last longer than three seasons. He hinted that there will be so much story left after Season 2 concludes that there’s almost no way just a third installment would be enough.

“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,” he explained.

The Last of Us Season 2 Episode Count

Part of the reason for those additional seasons is the fact that the second installment of HBO’s The Last of Us will have less episodes than the acclaimed first season. According to Mazin, the writers followed “natural breakpoints” in the game, and that led them to include just seven episodes in Season 2.

“The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way more than the story material that was in the first game, so part of what we had to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story across seasons,” Mazin said. “When you do that, you look for natural breakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the natural breakpoint felt like it came after seven episodes.”

The Last of Us Season 2 is currently in the works at HBO, but the new episodes do not yet have a release date. The premium network’s next big title arrives very soon, though, with House of the Dragon.

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You haven’t seen the last of Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie, but you’ll be seeing a little less of them when The Last of Us returns in 2025. Season 2 of the HBO drama will consist of seven episodes, according to Deadline. That’s shorter than the nine-episode first season that aired in early 2023, but series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have teased a “quite big” season 2 episode, as well as a potential third and fourth season of the post-apocalyptic drama based on the Naughty Dog video game.

“The story material that we got from Part II of the game is way morethan the story material that was in the first game, so part of what wehad to do from the start was figure out how to tell that story acrossseasons,” Mazin told Deadline. “When you do that, you look for naturalbreakpoints, and as we laid it out, this season, the [natural] breakpointfelt like it came after seven episodes.”

The first season adapted material from 2013’s The Last of Us, as well as the Last of Us: Left Behind DLC, which revealed how Ellie discovered she’s immune to the Cordyceps brain infection. The Last of Us Part II is even bigger, spanning a time jump, multiple new characters, and another cross-country trek.

“We don’t think that we’re going to be able to tell the story evenwithin two seasons [2 and 3] because we’re taking our time and go downinteresting pathways which we did a little bit in season 1 too,” Mazin said. “We feel like it’s almost assuredly going to be the case that — aslong as people keep watching and we can keep making more television — season 3 will be significantly larger. And indeed, the story may require season 4.”

He added: “One thing is absolutely for sure, I don’t see how we could tell thestory that remains after season 2 is complete in one more season.”

Along with Pascal and Ramsey, Gabriel Luna is reprising his role as Joel’s brother, Tommy. New additions to the second season cast include Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You) as the revenge-seeking Abby, Isabela Merced (Madame Web) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Manny, Ariela Barer (Runaways) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (Uncharted) as Nora, Jeffrey Wright (The Batman) as Isaac Dixon, and Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) in an undisclosed role. 

Mazin, Druckmann, and Peter Hoar will once again direct episodes of season 2, which previously added Kate Herron (Loki), Stephen Williams (Watchmen), Nina Lopez-Corrado (Perry Mason) to its stable of directors. The Last of Us season 2 will air sometime in 2025 on HBO and Max.

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The Last of Us Season 2 will feature Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, an announcement shared on Friday confirmed. Wright will play Isaac, the leader of the Washington Liberation Front which was a prominent faction in The Last of Us Part 2 that we’ve already seen featured in some of the images that have surfaced online ahead of Season 2’s release. The Last of Us Season 2 still does not yet have a release date, and we haven’t seen the live-action show’s version of Isaac yet, but thankfully, it’s not difficult to imagine what Wright’s portrayal of the character will look like.

That’s because Wright has already played Isaac once given that he voiced the character in The Last of Us Part 2. Isaac was a ruthless leader of the WLF faction in The Last of Us Part 2 despite coming across as softspoken at times, and after applauding his performance as Isaac, many wondered if Wright would return in the Max series to reprise his role. Wright himself entertained those ideas in the past which further led to speculation that he would indeed play the character with the MAX confirming the news via socials on Friday.

As the leader of WLF, Isaac was one of several antagonists in The Last of Us Part 2 not only against Ellie and her company but also against Abby, too, a character who herself was long part of WLF. Protective of his WLF soldiers and others in his community, Wright was particularly violent and distrusting towards the Seraphite faction which served as the primary adversary of WLF in Seattle.

This also isn’t the first time that Wright has been part of an HBO (now Max) series. He was previously on Boardwalk Empire as Valentin Narcisse, though many will likely recognize him more recently from his role as one of Westworld‘s protagonists, Bernard Lowe. In the comics sphere, he also played The Watcher in Marvel’s What If…? as well as Jim Gordan in The Batman.

Wright joins other new cast members coming on for Season 2 including Kaitlyn Dever as Abby and Isabela Merced as Ellie’s love interest, Dina. Manny, Mel, Nora, and Owen, each of them being major characters in the WLF faction as well, have all also been cast for Season 2 already.

The Last of Us Season 2 does not yet have a release date.

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When it comes to apocalyptic series, few anime series hit as hard as Heavenly Delusion. The series launched its anime back in April 2023, and the sci-fi drama was quick to earn rave reviews. Now, the director behind Heavenly Delusion is speaking up on the series, and it turns out The Last of Us was a huge inspiration for the anime.

Recently, Hirotaka Mori appeared at ACEN and spoke to fans about his career in anime. It was there the artist was asked about Heavenly Delusion, and More admitted The Last of Us was a major inspiration. In fact, the director got himself the art book for The Last of Us, and he requested the anime’s art style draw inspiration from the video game series.

Of course, Heavenly Delusion has spun out its own life beyond The Last of Us. After making its anime debuting 2023, Masakazu Ishiguro’s hit manga has become a popular read. After all, it scratches all the right places for a post-apocalyptic adventure. Heavenly Delusion tells the story of two characters, Maru and Kiruko, as they explore the outside world 15 years after a global catastrophe.

As for The Last of Us, well – the franchise hardly needs introduction these days. The franchise began in 2013 with a titular video game under Naughty Dog, and its found-family tale became an instant hit. With two games under thumb, The Last of Us resurfaced in 2023 with help from HBO as its live-action TV series went live. The show, which stars Pedro Pascal, became an award-winning hit with viewers. A second season is now in production, so all in all, Heavenly Delusion picked the right series to glean inspiration from.

If you are not familiar with Heavenly Delusion, you can find the Production I.G. anime on Hulu. So for more info on the series, you can read its official synopsis below:

“Within the safety of the walls, youths are raised in a nursery-style setting by robots. While life there may appear stale on the surface, the children are full of potential and curiosity. In many ways it is like a slice of heaven. The outside world is a hell-scape. It is almost entirely void of anything mechanical and is now inhabited by bizarre, yet powerful super-natural beings. Maru, with the aid of Kiruko, is out there crisscrossing what was once Tokyo for heaven. But after searching for so long, maybe heaven is more of an untenable dream than a potential reality.”

Do you see the comparison with The Last of Us? Let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!

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Ahead of Season 2 of The Last of Us, Max revealed this week new images from the show featuring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. The preview of Joel shows a character who’s clearly been aged by both time and his journey with Ellie while Ellie’s new appearance shows a more confident version of the character after what transpired in Season 1. Season 2 of The Last of Us still doesn’t yet have a release date beyond it being out some time in 2025, but these previews will hopefully lead into more looks at the next season.

We don’t yet have an overview for Season 2, though anyone who’s played The Last of Us Part 2 will know what’s coming as well as what might be going on in these new photos Max shared. For Joel’s new image that can be seen below, for example, we see him in an area with string lights behind him which suggests that the interaction he’s having takes place in the town of Jackson where the second game starts with a celebration. As those who played The Last of Us Part 2 will recall. Joel and Ellie shared tense moments in the town during the opening scenes of the game which alluded to the rift forming between the two after their travels.

New The Last of Us Season 2 Images

Integral to this celebration featuring Joel and Ellie that’ll inevitably be shown towards the start of Season 2 is another character, Dina. Dina was introduced in The Last of Us Part 2 as a love interest for Ellie. She’ll be played by Isabella Merced with new photos of those two shared recently as well amid talks from Merced about how impactful the chemistry between the stars will be during their portrayal of Ellie and Dina.

The new look at Ellie is not quite as easy to decipher as Joel’s. Ellie’s pretty much never without a weapon in The Last of Us Part 2, and given that the game takes place in Wyoming and in Seattle, her apparel could fit any of the moments in the game that take place in the colder seasons. 

The Last of Us Season 2 is scheduled to release at some point in 2025 on Max. Based on past comments from the showrunners, it’s unlikely that Season 2 will encapsulate all of The Last of Us Part 2, so expect Season 3 to tackle that game as well.

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While The Last of Us Season 2 isn’t scheduled to premiere on HBO until sometime in 2025, the production has been working on set since February. That hasn’t been a constant filming period. The production for The Last of Us Season 2 has been a little stop-and-start as the team has needed to wait for various things to line up correctly. Over the weekend, a new round of shooting was taking place and several new photos have emerged giving fans their first look at what Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced will look like as Ellie and Dina respectively.

First Look at Ellie and Dina in The Last of Us Season 2

The new images were shared on Twitter by the fan account The Last of Us News. They have two shots of Ramesy as Ellie on set, showing off her updated hairstyle. In these images, it’s not a perfect recreation of the game, but it’s a similar pulled-back style that could easily morph into what fans are used to once the action starts up. In any case, it’s clearly more pulled back than it was in Season 1, which could be one way the production is showing the character maturing. 

Meanwhile, the image of Merced shows her in Dina’s costume. She has that same pale red shirt that Dina wears in the game, but she’s wearing a more stylish New Balance jacket. Dina’s jacket in The Last of Us Part 2 is a leather jacket that looks much more worn than this costume. That said, it’s possible she’s only wearing this jacket for this scene and will switch it out for something more rugged when she heads to Seattle.

Of course, it’s worth noting that the show doesn’t need to perfectly nail the look of the characters. As long as they match the vibe, it should work well. After all, the crew has more than proven itself with The Last of Us Season 1. If Dina’s wearing something more sporty than she does in the game, it won’t really matter.

The Last of Us Season 2 Release Date

Currently, HBO has given a firm release date for The Last of Us Season 2. We know that it’s coming in 2025, but they haven’t narrowed the window any further. Season 1 kicked off in January 2023, so we might see Season 2 launch early next year. For now, we’ll have to wait until HBO makes an official announcement.

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The Last of Us season 2 has been spotted filming in Vancouver in multiple separate locations, as can be seen in set photos and posted Filming Notices shared by Vancouver film shoots account on X, @yvrshootstweets. According to the posts, Vancouver’s Oceanic Plaza is being transformed into the post-apocalyptic Seattle from The Last of Us Part 2. One specific location shown during shoots is Weston’s Pharmacy, where Bella Ramsey was seen on horseback on Saturday, May 11th.

In addition to the photos and notices shared by @yvrshootstweets, another X user @jeronandor shared photos of two set props being transported off Highway 1, noted to be specifically near the Grandview exit though as pointed out by @yvrshootstweets in the replies, this doesn’t really indicate where these two particular pieces of season 2 are headed. The larger of the two, a news van, does indicate what set it will be part of (or perhaps already was part of, as it’s possible the van is headed back to the main studio after already being used) – the KMAB 13 News Station.

This particular TV station is featured as a location in The Last of Us Part 2 that Ellie and Dina search during their hunt for Abby Anderson in Seattle. KMAB 13 was used as an outpost by the Washington Liberation Front (WLF), and the news station could prove to be a fairly dark set in the live-action series. In the game, the WLF was attacked in the station by the Seraphites, who killed the WLF members there, including Leah, whose belongings Ellie searches in order to try to find information about Abby’s whereabouts. You can check out all of the set photos on @yvrshootstweets, linked above. 

Just last week audiences who are patiently waiting for The Last of Us season 2 were treated to a new look at the WLF in additional set photos from a variety of sources. There’s also been plenty of additional excitement building carried out by various members of the cast and crew as filming is underway on new episodes, including Dina actress Isabela Merced who thinks there’s a particular scene that is going to flood social media when it airs.

There’s no concrete premiere date for The Last of Us season 2 just yet, but leaker Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK) recently claimed the window is less than a year from now, either March or April of 2025. Of course, this is a leak and should still be taken lightly, as nothing is official until there’s an announcement from HBO. 

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Ahmed Best is known for playing Jar Jar Binks and Kelleran Beq in the Star Wars universe, but that’s not the only franchise the actor is involved in. Best also lent his voice to some popular video games, including The Last of Us Part II and Fallout 76. Both The Last of Us and Fallout have made the successful transition to television. The Last of Us is currently in production on its second season for HBO, and Fallout was recently renewed for a second season by Amazon’s Prime Video. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Best at the grand opening of Bricks and Minifigs in Pasadena, California. In addition to talking about Star Wars, we also brought up Best’s connection to the games, and wondered if he was interested in being a part of those shows. 

“Nobody called me,” Best revealed when asked about potentially making a cameo on either series. “I mean, I’ll play anything. Last of Us II and Fallout were both very, very fun. And the people who do those games are just wonderful and build universes that are just fantastic. So I mean, I just wanted to make a cameo in either one of those ’cause I’m in the game. But I don’t know, whatever they have out there in the world in either of those universes, I’m down.”

What Is Popup Con? 

We spoke to Best at Popup Con, a cool event he started a few years ago, and he explained how it came to be.

“So Popup Con actually started before the pandemic,” Best shared. “I always wanted to do something primarily to look at small niche businesses. When it came to entertainment stuff, I grew up in comic book stores all my life. I grew up in toy stores all my life … And I always loved the cultures that were around it. Every time I would go to a comic book store when I was a kid, it’d be all the same people … You’d have all of these people who were so passionate, not just about what was in the store, but the store itself. It’s something that I always really loved. And when big box stores came in, that kind of disappeared.”

“The big conventions are cool, but sometimes it gets a little much,” Best explained. “Sometimes it’s very difficult to have the stamina to do all of them, and sometimes it gets kind of transactional, more transactional than I like. I kind of like the fact that you get to talk to people. I like the fact that you get to know people and you get a little bit of time. So I was like, ‘Well, what if there was a con that would just pop up in these very niche mom-and-pop stores?’ Especially things like comic book stores or video stores or Lego stores or toy stores, and it would be the people affiliated with the store, but you can also spend a little bit more time with people coming through, and that’s when Popup Con comes.”

Stay tuned for more updates about Star Wars, The Last of Us, Fallout, and more…

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The first season of HBO’s The Last of Us managed to captivate audiences, including those familiar with the original PlayStation games, as well as those new to the franchise. It seems that the next season will have a lot for viewers to talk about as well. In a new interview with Buzzfeed, actress Isabela Merced talked about playing Dina in the new season, and her character’s relationship with Ellie (played by Bella Ramsey). While Merced didn’t go into a lot of detail about the new season, she did hint at a sequence that a lot of people are going to be talking about. 

“It’s really, really exciting. There’s a scene in particular that I think is going to be on everyone’s Twitter feed,” Merced told Buzzfeed. 

What Scene is Merced Talking About?

There are a lot of powerful scenes from The Last of Us Part II that could fit that description. The game is something of a rollercoaster, and fans are still debating some of the twists and turns nearly four years later. Those that played the PS4 game might have some idea what Merced is talking about, but it’s hard to say for certain. We simply don’t know how closely the new season will adapt the source material, or even where it will come to an end; it’s been confirmed that the events of the game will play out across at least two seasons. 

Presumably, Merced is talking about a scene with her and Ellie, and not that one major scene from the game that resulted in harassment and death threats. One possibility is the scene between Dina and Ellie at the Greenplace Supermarket. Images of that location leaked online earlier this year, so it’s a safe bet things could play out in a manner similar to the game. Of course, the scene she mentions could be something from a cut level, as well. In a 2023 statement to EW, The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann teased that the show will feature “one element from a cut level,” though Druckmann did note that could change before filming finished. For now, fans are just going to have to speculate about what we can expect in Season 2. 

When Will The Last of Us Season 2 Release?

It could be a long time before we know what Merced is talking about, as The Last of Us Season 2 won’t be releasing until sometime in 2025. Rumors have suggested that we might not see new episodes until March or April that year, but nothing has been confirmed by HBO at this time. It’s likely we could learn a lot more over the next few months, particularly as convention season approaches. It’s been a long wait for fans of the series, but if the finished product matches the quality of the first season, it should prove worth it. 

Are you excited to check out the next season of The Last of Us? What are you hoping to see from the show? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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The second season of The Last of Us went into production earlier this year, and fans have seen some very small glimpses of the production. The folks involved with the series are being understandably tight-lipped about the new episodes, but some have shared their excitement for the upcoming season. One such person is Ann Foley, the show’s costume designer. ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with Foley about her work on The Spiderwick Chronicles, and we asked how far she was into The Last of Us process. 

“It’s blurred behind me,” Foley teased of her background during the Zoom call, indicating that she was in the middle of working on the series. “Oh my God, yes,” she added when asked if she was excited for Season 2. “This is great. I am so honored to be part of the show. I was a huge fan of Season One, even before I interviewed for this job. So I couldn’t be happier to be part of it. It’s a spectacular team. It’s a gorgeous show with a wonderful cast. I’m just so happy to be here.” 

We went on to ask Foley if there were any unsung heroes of the Spiderwick production, and she ended up shouting out her crew from the new Roku series in addition to The Last of Us.

“Well, I mean it actually applies to both shows,” she began. “It applies to all shows, but my workroom, who builds the costumes, the breakdown team who does all of the aging and the dying. For example, in Spiderwick, Lucinda’s peony dress, that was handmade. Every single one of the petals on that dress was cut from a piece of silk. It was then hand pressed into an old-fashioned flower petal press, and then hand-painted, and then hand sewn on.”

“So it took about six weeks and it was a stunningly beautiful dress, and the team just really knocked it out of the park. And the same even with Thimbletack, and his costume, and my workroom, making all of those tiny little shorts that he wears with the tiny little tunic, his little hat. I mean, it’s actually kind of difficult to make those small clothes and to make them in a way that doesn’t look … terrible.”

“They did such a beautiful job,” she continued. “And actually, Jared’s hoodie was custom-made in the shop, too. You would never know. So yeah, that’s the beauty of the team. And I’m only as good as my team, and thank God I had an amazing team on Spiderwick. I have a lot of them here with me on The Last of Us, and everyone from the assistant costume designers to the set costumers.”

“I always say it doesn’t matter what I do, it’s like it lives and dies once it goes to set,” Foley explained. “So the set costumers have to take care of it. They have to make sure it stays exactly the way that it’s meant to stay and what the design intent was. So yeah, I had a really wonderful team. Awesome. To be perfectly honest.”

The Spiderwick Chronicles is now streaming on The Roku Channel. Stay tuned for updates about The Last of Us. 

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Set photos from Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us have shown us that the filming of new episodes is well underway, but those photos have only shown off very limited looks at sets and the cast that make up Season 2. More telling photos, however, have been shared through less official sources like those around the actual sets who’ve been able to capture some glimpses of costumes, props, and more. Through some of the latest photos of those kind that have made their way online, we’ve been able to spot some early looks at the forces of the Washington Liberation Front as they’ll appear in Season 2.

More commonly abbreviated as the WLF, the militant faction based out of the state of Washington is one of the new factions introduced in The Last of Us Part 2. Season 2 is being filmed in part in Vancouver with Twitter user CaptCanuck66 sharing some images of the WLF mobilizing with armored vehicles and weapons in a way that’ll look very familiar to anyone who’s played through The Last of Us Part 2.

Another image shared by the same user more clearly showed the WLF patch on a militant’s arm which, alongside the abbreviation of the group on the vehicles, shows definitively what faction we’re looking at here.

In the image shared above along with others from the same user’s account, we see that the WLF members in Season 2 line up pretty closely with their appearances in The Last of Us Part 2 wherein they typically wore simple, practical outfits comprised of what they could pieces together from fallen FEDRA forces and what was scavenged from the Seattle area. The members shown in these particular photos don’t appear to match up to any of the more prominent characters from The Last of Us Part 2 who were members of the WLF, though it’s of course difficult to tell from these images alone.

If you’ve played The Last of Us Part 2, you’ll already know of several important WLF characters who’ll play major parts themselves in Season 2. Just recently, Mel, Nora, Manny, and Owen were all cast for Season 2 with each of those characters — Owen in particular — getting quite a bit of time spent on them in the second game. Of course, the most pivotal member of the WLF that we’ll see in Season 2 is Abby herself, a character who defined the events of The Last of Us Part 2 alongside Joel and Ellie.

The Last of Us Season 2 does not yet have a release date, but it’s not expected to be out until at least 2025.

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The Last of Us season 2 has already confirmed some key cast members for the next batch of episodes, one of them a key pillar of the narrative with Isabela Merced taking on the role of Dina. As players of the games know, and with no game spoilers here, Dina plays a pivotal role in the story of the game The Last of Us Part II which the new season will be based on. Speaking in a new interview, Merced had a major tease for the second season and her role in it, teasing that her instant chemistry with star Bella Ramsey was apparent from the beginning that this is what she’s most excited for fans to see.

“I’m so excited for people to see my chemistry with Bella,” Merced told Collider. “Bella and I have so much chemistry. From the first day, it was there. There’s no work to be done. I really respect Bella. I just saw Catherine Called Birdy and Bella has such range and just an honesty about their work. I’m learning so much. I’m very honored to be here.”  

Merced went on to tell the outlet that she was a fan of the TV series and when the potential for joining the cast came up she decided to play The Last of Us Part II, calling it “a lot of fun” and praising it for being so well made. 

“When you see the Bloaters, your heart starts racing, your hands are all sweaty, and you can barely hold onto the controller,” Merced added. “It’s just an amazing experience. I consider anything that makes my heart rate go up to be a fun experience, so I enjoyed it. Great work from Neil Druckmann .”.

Regarding how she booked the part in The Last of Us, Merced revealed the she had a “mind-blowing instant connection” with series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. She added, “By the way, Craig and I have a lot of issues in common. Our brains work faster than our mouths, and I just love that about him. He’s definitely one of my go-tos for a life guru, in general, now.”

Isabele Merced is just one of several key additions to the cast of The Last of Us for season 2 with others including Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, another key character for both Bella Ramsey’s Ellie and Isabele Merced’s Dina; plus a whole troop of soldiers that game players will recognize including Danny Ramirez (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) as Manny, Ariela Barer (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) as Mel, Tati Gabrielle (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) as Abby. Another new addition made to The Last of Us season 2 is comedian Catherine O’Hara who is playing an undisclosed role. 

Filming is happening now for The Last of Us season 2, with no official air date in sight for the next batch of episodes. A previous report revealed a March/April 2025 premiere was being targeted by HBO, which would put it two years after the release of the show’s first season. 

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Now over a year after it first hit Max, The Last of Us continues adding awards to its hardware case. The latest such award comes from the 2024 Writers Guild of America Awards, where the Craig Mazin-created series walked away with Best New Series. The series beat out The Diplomat, Jury Duty, Poker Face, and Shrinking to win the award.

It’s far from the first major award The Last of Us has won over the past year, with the HBO series also winning big at the Emmys, Critics’ Choice Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards. That’s all on top of the tremendous success it found in the television ratings while airing, where it quickly became the highest-rated video game television adaptation of all time.

The series is now shooting principal photography for its Second Season on HBO and Max, a batch of episodes series lead Pedro Pascal calls “amazing.”

“Filming is going amazing. It’s sort of awe-inspiring the kind of focus and dedication that everyone has going into Season 2,” Pascal said to Deadline earlier this year. “It’s incredible to be back home with them and creatively and everybody, our entire crew, they’re working harder than I could even imagine, even harder than our first season which is close to impossible. […] Stepping into those boots again, it feels strangely brand new. I’ve never done anything like this before that has such original authorship before I ever got to it.”

Both Pascal and Bella Ramsey are returning to reprise their wildly-beloved roles for the shows first season. Joining them will be a new cast that includes  Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Young Mazino (Jesse), Isabela Merced (Dina), and Catherina O’Hara (unknown). Season 2 is then being helmed by Craig Mazin in tandem with Neil Druckmann, who is the writer and director of both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.

The first season of The Last of Us is now streaming on Max while the second season has yet to set a release date.

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The first season of The Last of Us was a major success story, and fans have been eagerly awaiting Season 2. While production on the new season is underway, HBO has been quiet about a release window. However, leaker Daniel Richtman (known on Twitter as @DanielRPK) claims that the new season will premiere about one year from now, airing in either March or April 2025. While Richtman has proven to be a reliable source in the past, readers should take this with a grain of salt for the time being. After all, a whole lot can change in a year! 

Pedro Pascal’s Role in The Last of Us Season 2

Richtman has also mentioned that Pedro Pascal has finished filming on The Last of Us Season 2. Now, that could mean a lot of things! However, some fans have taken this to mean that the new season of the show will faithfully follow the PlayStation game, and Joel’s part in the story will be over quickly. The character doesn’t appear for very much of The Last of Us Part II, so it’s possible Pascal was able to finish all his filming in a short amount of time. Pascal has been playing coy about whether things might change for the adaptation, but he could just be trying to throw people off. Unless something is announced ahead of time, we probably won’t know the character’s TV fate until the series airs next year.

The one thing that we know for sure about the adaptation is that it will take place across multiple seasons; we don’t know for sure how many seasons will be needed to cover all of the events of The Last of Us Part II, but there will be at least two. That also leaves a lot of questions about where Season 2 will leave off. Unfortunately, we don’t know what cut-off point the show will go with, or how much of the game will be covered. 

What Happens to Joel in The Last of Us Part II?

While Joel was the main character in the original The Last of Us video game, he appears very little in the game’s sequel (WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD). In the game, Joel is captured by Abby, a new character that has been confirmed to appear in Season 2 of the show, where she’ll be played by Kaitlyn Dever (No One Will Save You, Booksmart). After Ellie tries to rescue Joel, she witnesses him being beaten to death by Abby. That scene immediately proved controversial, with some fans even sending death threats to those associated with the game, including Abby’s voice actor Laura Bailey. Things have calmed down a bit in the four years since the game’s release, but it will be interesting to see if that scene will play out the same way in the show, and how audiences will react. 

Are you excited for the next season of The Last of Us? Do you think Joel’s fate will change? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: The Last of Us News]

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Production on The Last of Us Season 2 is underway, and another location from the set has appeared online. This time around, it’s a snow-covered house, and fans believe it just might be Joel Miller’s residence from The Last of Us Part II. The unofficial Twitter account The Last of Us News has shared an image of the house being used for filming alongside shots from the game. It’s not nearly as close as the Greenplace Market images that leaked online last month, but it does seem close enough to what appeared in the PlayStation game. 

Readers can see the side-by-side comparison shots and judge for themselves in the Tweet embedded below. 

What to Expect from The Last of Us Season 2

The new season of The Last of Us will begin to adapt the events that occur in The Last of Us Part II. Across 9 episodes, the first season adapted the entire main story of the first game as well as the events from the Left Behind DLC. However, things are going to be a little different for the sequel. It’s already been confirmed that the events from The Last of Us Part II won’t all be able to fit in one season, so viewers can expect to see at least two seasons covering the game. Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have been cryptic about just how many seasons we’ll see, including the overall number of episodes. On top of that, there’s no way of knowing where the season will leave off, exactly. 

We do know that the new season will be adding several new cast members, including Catherine O’Hara, Danny Ramirez, Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle, and Spencer Lord. Most significantly, Kaitlyn Dever will be playing the role of Abby, while Isabela Merced has been cast as Dina. 

The Fate of Joel in The Last of Us Season 2

One of the biggest questions surrounding the new season of The Last of Us is just how closely it will stick to the source material. The fate of Joel in that game has been hugely controversial since The Last of Us Part II‘s release, and even resulted in death threats directed at one of the game’s actors, as well as her infant son. 

Joel actor Pedro Pascal has hinted to Deadline that the character’s final fate could be different in the show versus the game, but it’s possible he’s also just trying to maintain some of the mystery. Whatever the case might be, Pascal seems to be very happy with the direction of the new season and how things are going during production. Hopefully fans will be able to say the same when the new season arrives on HBO. 

Do you think this is supposed to be Joel’s house from The Last of Us Part II? Are you getting excited for the next season of the HBO series? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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The Last of Us Season 2 has added four more actors to the cast: Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Ariela Barer (How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Runaways), Tati Gabrielle (YOU, Uncharted), and Spencer Lord (Riverdale).

Here’s the breakdown of which characters from The Last of Us each actor is playing, per Variety: 

• Danny Ramirez “will play Manny… a loyal soldier whose sunny outlook belies the pain of old wounds and a fear that he will fail his friends when they need him most.” 
• Ariela Barer is playing Mel, “a young doctor whose commitment to saving lives is challenged by the realities of war and tribalism.”
• Tati Gabrielle is playing Nora “a military medic struggling to come to terms with the sins of her past.” 
• Spencer Lord is listed to “appear” in the show as Owen, “a gentle soul trapped in a warrior’s body, condemned to fight an enemy he refuses to hate.”

These four latest additions will join The Last of Us TV series stars Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie), as well as a handful of previously-confirmed new cast members, including Isabela Merced (Madame Web) as Dina, Young Mazino (Netflix’s Beef) as Jesse, and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) as Abby. Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice 2) will also appear in a mystery role.

The Last of Us Season 2 New Characters Explained

Without any SPOILERS, fans of The Last of Us: Part II video game will see the new character names above and realize just how pivotal these supporting characters will be. 

The HBO TV series is expected to expand upon the period and events between the first and second games, spreading the actual events of the second game across multiple seasons of TV. That means that viewers will likely get to know Manny, Mel, Nora, and Owen much better than they ever did in the games, which could be very necessary background and characterization before the show takes viewers to the dark places and big twists of the second game’s story. 

Indeed, balancing perspective and screen time across an expanding cast of “primary characters” will be the trickiest feat for The Last of Us Season 2 (and Season 3) to pull off, to make The Last of Us: Part II work – at all – as a TV adaptation. HBO and showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann recognize the challenge because their casting continues to pull in some of the best breakout talent of the last few years – even in supporting or bit roles. 

The Last of Us Season 2 doesn’t have a premiere date yet.

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The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal is praising the work that has already been done on the show’s second season. Earlier this month, production on Season 2 of The Last of Us finally began and saw co-stars Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal once again returning to portray Ellie and Joel, respectively. HBO itself has already confirmed that The Last of Us will film throughout most of 2024 and won’t return again until some point in 2025. Despite this, Pascal himself is already floored by what is being accomplished on set. 

Following his SAG Award win for Best Male Actor in a Drama Series, Pascal was asked about Season 2 of The Last of Us and how production has gone so far. In response, Pascal had nothing but positivity to share about the first couple of weeks of filming that have now wrapped. He went on to specifically call out co-star Bella Ramsey and showrunner Craig Mazin as major leaders on Season 2 and said that they’ve been guiding the project in a way that he previously hasn’t seen before in his career.  

“Filming is going amazing. It’s sort of awe-inspiring the kind of focus and dedication that everyone has going into Season 2,” Pascal said to Deadline. “It’s incredible to be back home with them and creatively and everybody, our entire crew, they’re working harder than I could even imagine, even harder than our first season which is close to impossible. […] Stepping into those boots again, it feels strangely brand new. I’ve never done anything like this before that has such original authorship before I ever got to it.”

Season 2 of The Last of Us is set to once again most prominently star both Pascal and Ramsey, but the duo will be joined by a number of new faces this time around. In recent months, HBO has announced new additions to the cast which have included Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Young Mazino (Jesse), Isabela Merced (Dina), and Catherina O’Hara (unknown). Season 2 is then being helmed by Craig Mazin in tandem with Neil Druckmann, who is the writer and director of both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. As mentioned, a premiere date for The Last of Us Season 2 has yet to be announced, but HBO should begin sharing more details as this year continues onward. 

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The SAG Awards took place on Saturday night and they proved to be a big night for The Last of Us. Series star Pedro Pascal took home the award for Male Actor in a Drama Series for his performance as Joel Miller in the series. The Last of Us also won the award for Stunt Ensemble in a TV Series. Pascal had some significant competition for the award, with Succession stars Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, and Matthew Macfadyen up for the award along with The Morning Show‘s Billy Crudup, something that Pascal seemed to acknowledge in his acceptance speech in which he noted that he was “a little drunk” because he thought he could do so at the awards.

“This is wrong for a number of reasons. I’m a little drunk. I thought I could get drunk. Thank you, HBO. Jeez, Louise. I’m making a fool of myself. But thank you so much for this,” he said. “I’ve been in the union since 1999. So, this is an incredible f–-king honor, we’re on Netflix. To the nominees, all of you, I can’t remember any of your names right now. To Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann. Casey at HBO. It’s very appropriate, you’ve given me a job because I grew up watching your network. I have no skills. I have no other interests. So, the least you could do is give me a job. Franklin and Sue who’re with me here tonight. My family is maybe watching. I’m not sure. I’m going to have a panic attack and I’m gonna leave.

Season 2 of The Last of Us Is In Production

The second season of The Last of Us is currently in production, having begun filming earlier this month. The Last of Us follows survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and the infected-immune Ellie (Bella Ramsey) through the fungal apocalypse. Season 2 has added new cast members Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick, Unbelievable) as Abby, a key character from The Last of Us: Part II video game, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, and Isabela Merced (Madame Web) as Dina. The second season has an expected 2025 release date.

“I’m never gonna say there are things that are gonna happen in the show that happened in the game. You never know what we’re gonna do,” Mazin revealed in an interview last year. “But I will say that it is the adventure, the journey is the point. There are things that will shock people, things that were in the game, things that were not in the game, and that’s okay. As long as they’re purposeful, they’re not there to just simply shock. We are not interested in creating social media fear. We just want to tell the story the way we think it should be told.”

Pedro Pascal Was Recently Cast as Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four

Marvel Studios recently announced the cast of The Fantastic Four for the MCU, confirming that Pascal will play Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. Vanessa Kirby will play Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn will play Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will play Ben Grimm/The Thing.

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The SAG Awards kicked off in Los Angeles this evening as actors celebrate the best performances of 2023. Film and TV fans are eager to see their favorites win tonight, and some big projects have already taken home prizes. The award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series has been awarded to HBO’s The Last of Us while Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture went to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. 

“They endured. They survived. Give a round of applause for the @thelastofus,” SAG shared on Instagram. “Brace yourselves for the ultimate cinematic adrenaline rush! @missionimpossible, congrats on your Outstanding Action Performance!” they added in another post. You can check them out below:

The Last of Us beat out The Mandalorian, Beef, Ahsoka, and Barry. Mission: Impossible beat John Wick: Chapter 4, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Barbie, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Earlier this year, The Mandalorian took home an Emmy for stunts. 

When Is The Last of Us Season 2 Being Released?

While The Last of Us is heading back into production, it is currently unclear when the series will be back. Showrunner Craig Mazin appeared on Entertainment Weekly‘s The Awardist podcast last year and spoke about preparing for the new season ahead of the strikes. 

“We were able to map out all of Season 2,” Mazin said. “And I also wrote and submitted the script for the first episode and sent it in [to HBO] around 10:30 or 10:40 PM right before the midnight [makes a “kajoomph” sound] and the strike began.”

Mazin noted that by getting The Last of Us Season 2 mapped out and the first script finished, the show would be able to keep “below-the-line crew members” employed and working through the strike. 

“To the extent that we can keep anybody below the line working, that’s fantastic,” Mazin explained. “I think it’s becoming essentially a near certainty that we won’t be able to start [filming] when we were hoping to start, which is upsetting. We are all raring to go. This is what we are born to do. This is how we not only choose to live our lives, but I believe [how we] are compelled to live our lives. Otherwise, why the hell would we do this insane job? I can assure you it’s not for money.”

Stay tuned for more SAG updates. 

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It’s Pedro Pascal’s world and we’re just living in it. Days after being cast as Reed Richards in the Marvel Cinematic Universe effectively receiving the role of a lifetime, Pascal has earned some major hardware for his trophy case. Sunday, Pascal walked away with the Male TV Star of the Year Award at the 2024 People’s Choice Awards for his performance as Joel Miller in HBO’s The Last of Us. The Last of Us also won the People’s Choice Award for Best Drama Show of the Year.

Pascal beat the field in a crowded category. Other nominees for Male TV Star of the Year included Chase Stokes (Outer Banks), Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), Kieran Culkin (Succession), Samuel L. Jackson (Secret Invasion), Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), and Tom Hiddleston (Loki).

The second season of The Last of Us is now filming, with Pascal looking to wrap that up before moving onto filming his role in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four. Little is known about the plot of the show’s sophomore outing, and series creator Craig Mazin has hinted it may not necessarily adapt the same story of the video game it’s based on.

“I’m never gonna say there are things that are gonna happen in the show that happened in the game. You never know what we’re gonna do,” Mazin revealed in an interview last year. “But I will say that it is the adventure, the journey is the point. There are things that will shock people, things that were in the game, things that were not in the game, and that’s okay. As long as they’re purposeful, they’re not there to just simply shock. We are not interested in creating social media fear. We just want to tell the story the way we think it should be told.”

“Will there be furor? Yeah, probably. I mean, there usually is, starting even with casting,” Mazin continued. “We knew they were the exact right person to cast and they had to go through quite a few months of people being awful on social media until they saw what we saw. That, to me, is the point. We don’t operate to either make people happy on social media or avoid making them upset. We just do what we think is right, and we hope that people come along for the ride and enjoy it.”

The first season of The Last of Us is now streaming on Max while the second season has yet to set a release date.

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A new leak has apparently revealed one of the locations from the set of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2. Images were shared on the unofficial The Last of Us News Twitter account, and feature a look at the Greenplace Market. As PlayStation fans may recall, the Greenplace Market appears in The Last of Us Part II. The abandoned supermarket is a location visited by Ellie and Dina, where the regular shoppers have been replaced by the infected. While we don’t know how it will look from the inside, the company logo is pretty much a perfect match for what appears in the game!

Readers can check out images of the Greenplace Market in the Tweet embedded below. 

The Last of Us Season 2 Details

Filming on The Last of Us Season 2 is set to begin soon. At this time, very little information is known about the new season, and when we can expect to see it. We know that the season will cover some of the events from The Last of Us Part II, but it has been confirmed the adaptation will play out over multiple seasons. The first season was mostly faithful to the game that inspired it, but there have been some indications that things will change. In a statement to EW last year, Neil Druckmann teased that “one element from a cut level” is currently set to appear in the new season, though the creator also noted that could end up changing. 

The new season will see the returning cast bolstered by some new additions. Dina will be played by Isabela Merced, while Young Mazino will appear as Jesse. Booksmart star Kaitlyn Dever will be playing one of the most important roles in the new season as Abby. Catherine O’Hara has also been cast in the series, though her role has not been officially revealed. 

Faithfulness to the Games

Heading into the new season, one of the biggest questions on the minds of viewers is just how much will change from The Last of Us Part II. The events of that game proved immediately controversial, most notably the fate of Joel. Fans did not take things well, and many are wondering if things will play out in the same way. Star Pedro Pascal has offered some cryptic teases in that regard, telling Deadline in a recent interview that the new season could “surprise us.” 

That said, changing how things play out for Joel would have a massive ripple effect on the rest of the events from the game, and it’s hard to imagine just how much would have to change as a result. For now, fans should look at details like the Greenplace Market design as a sign that events in the new season will play out close to how they did in the game! 

How did you feel about The Last of Us Part II? Do you think the new season will faithfully adapt the game’s events? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

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The Last of Us Part II star Jeffrey Wright isn’t ruling out the chance that he appears in the HBO series. The Last of Us is one of the biggest franchises in entertainment right now thanks to the incredibly popular games, but also the award-winning TV series which successfully adapted the entirety of the first game. There’s a lot of momentum behind the franchise right now and PlayStation has done an incredible job of ensuring it stays relevant despite only having released two games in the series. On top of those releases and the TV show, there has been a lot of support for those two games via remasters and “remakes” on PS5 and PC, expanding the audience for the series.

The second season of the show is expected to begin filming very soon (if it hasn’t already) and it will adapt The Last of Us Part II. It’s expected the game will be adapted across multiple seasons as it’s much longer than the first game and has a lot of differences in its story structure, meaning it can’t be cohesively told in one season. We’re not exactly sure how it will all be split up, but it won’t be exactly like the first season in the sense that it cleanly hit all the big beats of the first game. One character that shows up in The Last of Us Part II is Isaac Dixon, the leader of the WLF. The character shows up in the second half of the game and therefore probably won’t show up in the second season (though that’s just speculation). However, one thing that surprised players is that the character was played by actor Jeffrey Wright (No Time to Die, The Batman). Wright was asked in a recent interview with GamesRadar if he’d be returning to play the character in live action and he gave a very simple answer:  “Anything is possible. We shall see.”

It seems he’s tip toeing around it and maybe knows the answer. It’s also possible that his character may not show up until season 3 and therefore doesn’t even have a definitive answer. Either way, given Wright’s pedigree and the fact he has been in other HBO shows before, he would make a strong addition to the cast of the live-action adaptation of The Last of Us

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HBO’s The Last of Us TV series has officially cast Catherine O’Hara (Beetlejuice 2, Home Alone, Argylle) in Season 2 of the show. This follows previous reports from Internet scoopers this week that O’Hara was being cast in The Last of Us Season 2. 

The official casting confirmation from Variety claims that O’Hara’s role is “being kept under wraps’; the scoop report from Daniel Richtman claimed that O’Hara is playing a character named “Gail” who is being added to The Last of Us TV series, and didn’t appear in the game. Looking over The Last of Us: Part II game, there are several interesting possibilities for O’Hara’s role – from the mother of new character Abby, to another figure whose presence is only reference and/or implied in the second game. 

The Last of Us TV series is written, directed and executive produced by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and game writer and creative director, Neil Druckmann. Carolyn Strauss and Evan Wells, president of Naughty Dog, executive produce along with PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan as well as Rose Lam. HBO and Sony Pictures Television co-produce The Last of Us TV series, while PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog all produce. Season 2 directors will include Marvel’s Loki director Kate Herron, Stephen Williams (HBO’s Watchmen), Mark Mylod (HBO’s Succession) and Nina Lopez (HBO’s Perry Mason). Season 1 directors Druckmann, Mazin, and Peter Hoar are also all returning to direct Season 2 episodes. 

The cast for Season 1 included Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson, and Troy Baker. New additions for Season 2 include Isabela Merced (Hunger Games Prequel) as Dina, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) as Abby.

What Is HBO’s The Last Of Us Season 2 About? 

The Last of Us follows apocalypse survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), as they try to navigate across an America that’s been annihilated by an intelligent fungus that turns living beings into zombie-like monsters – or worse. (SPOILERS) Season 1 of The Last Of Us ended with Joel making the damning decision not to let Ellie (the only known person to be immune to the fungus infection) not sacrifice her life in the name of scientific breakthrough and possible salvation for humanity. Joel ended up telling Ellie the lie that she wasn’t a viable candidate for a vaccine, covering up the brutal and bloody murder spree he inflicted upon the Firely rebel group, to liberate her. Ellie clearly didn’t trust Joel’s explanation completely, setting up Season 2 for a deeper (darker?) story of what happens with all that mistrust and secrecy between them – not to mention repercussions from the fate that Joel chose for the world that day. 

 The Last of Us season 2 begins filming February 12 ahead of an expected 2025 release on HBO and the streaming service Max.

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Famed actress Catherine O’Hara is reportedly being eyed to join the cast of The Last of Us for Season 2. In just a few short weeks, HBO has confirmed that filming on the next wave of episodes for The Last of Us will begin. As production has continued to draw near, new cast members such as Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Young Mazino (Jesse), and Isabela Merced (Dina) have all been announced to be joining the acclaimed show. Now, O’Hara seems to be in talks to also play a part in Season 2, although she seemingly won’t be playing a character that has appeared in the video games. 

According to reporter Daniel Richtman, O’Hara is in talks to join The Last of Us as the character Gail, who will seemingly appear in three episodes of the series. O’Hara, who is most well-known for her work in Schitt’s Creek and Home Alone, hasn’t officially signed on just yet, which means that this role could end up going to someone else. Assuming that she does end up appearing in Season 2, though, she would join the likes of Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Storm Reid, Jeffrey Pierce, and Melanie Lynskey as cast members who only starred in a limited number of episodes. 

As mentioned, the role of Gail that O’Hara might play is one that isn’t from The Last of Us Part II video game. With this in mind, it’s hard to know if O’Hara’s character would be an ally of Joel and Ellie or if she would instead portray an antagonist. It’s worth noting that introducing new characters to the world of The Last of Us is something that showrunners Craig Mazin in Neil Druckmann also did in Season 1. To hear that this is likely to transpire again in Season 2 isn’t much of a surprise, but this is one of our first potential confirmations of such happening.

For the time being, it’s not known when exactly The Last of Us Season 2 will premiere. Filming for the second season is expected to last most of 2024, which has led to HBO already verifying that the show won’t return until 2025. A more well-defined window within the coming year has yet to be detailed, but we should learn more about Season 2’s arrival in the months ahead. 

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The second season of HBO’s The Last of Us is expected to go into production next month, and it will feature the return of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie. There have been some exciting names added to the new season, ranging from Loki director Kate Herron to No One Will Save You‘s Kaitlyn Dever as the fan-favorite game character, Abby. In The Last of Us Part 2, Abby’s love interest is Owen, who was played by Patrick Fugit in the game. Fugit is known for films such as Almost Famous and recently starred in the HBO limited series, Love and Death. Last year, Fugit talked about the possibility of returning to The Last of Us for the show’s second season, but he doesn’t want to play Owen again. 

“Neil Druckmann is somebody I keep in touch with,” Fugit revealed in an interview with Screen Rant early last year. “I love that guy, and really I would do any type of creative adventure with him that he came up with. I’m obviously like twice as old as Owen, like I’m 40. I think Owen’s 20 in the second part of the second game, so I’m not playing Owen, nor do I want to. I did that already. I don’t know, maybe I’ll play one of those Wolf characters or one of the cultists. That’d be- I already got the beard. If I could shave my head, good to go.”

When Is The Last of Us Season 2 Being Released?

While The Last of Us‘ production start date has been revealed, it is currently unclear when the series will be back. Showrunner Craig Mazin appeared on Entertainment Weekly‘s The Awardist podcast lasy year tnd spoke about preparing for the new season ahead of the strikes. 

“We were able to map out all of Season 2,” Mazin said. “And I also wrote and submitted the script for the first episode and sent it in [to HBO] around 10:30 or 10:40 PM right before the midnight [makes a “kajoomph” sound] and the strike began.”

Mazin noted that by getting The Last of Us Season 2 mapped out and the first script finished, the show would be able to keep “below-the-line crew members” employed and working through the strike. 

“To the extent that we can keep anybody below the line working, that’s fantastic,” Mazin explained. “I think it’s becoming essentially a near certainty that we won’t be able to start [filming] when we were hoping to start, which is upsetting. We are all raring to go. This is what we are born to do. This is how we not only choose to live our lives, but I believe [how we] are compelled to live our lives. Otherwise, why the hell would we do this insane job? I can assure you it’s not for money.”

Stay tuned for more updates about The Last of Us. 

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Emmy Award-winning HBO and Marvel directors have boarded The Last of Us season 2. Deadline reports that Mark Mylod, who won the Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Emmy for the “Connor’s Wedding” episode of Succession‘s final season, has signed on for the post-apocalyptic drama based on the Naughty Dog video game series. Confirming last week’s report that Sex Education and Marvel’s Loki season 1 director Kate Herron will direct for season 2, the network has also tapped Emmy winner Stephen Williams (HBO’s Watchmen) and Nina Lopez-Corrado (HBO’s Perry Mason).

The four newcomers join returning Last of Us directors Peter Hoar, who received an Emmy nomination for the first season episode “Long, Long Time,” and Craig Mazin (pilot episode “When You’re Lost in the Darkness”) and Neil Druckmann (“Infected”), the series’ co-creators, executive producers, and showrunners. 

Mylod has received eight Emmy nominations, winning four for his work on seasons 2-4 of awards darling Succession. The directing-producer’s credits include episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones and Entourage, Shameless, and the feature The Menu.Herron is no stranger to the zombie apocalypse: she directed an episode of the Netflix zombie apocalypse comedy Daybreak. She helmed all six episodes of the first season of the acclaimed Marvel Studios series Loki.

Another genre vet and Directors Guild of America Award nominee, Williams’ extensive TV credits include episodes of The Walking Dead, How to Get Away With Murder, Ray Donovan, and HBO’s Westworld. Williams also served as an executive producer on HBO’s adaptation of Watchmen, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series. Along with her work on episodes of Perry Mason, Lopez-Corrado served as director and co-executive producer of ABC drama A Million Little Things. Her credits include Supernatural, the Marvel TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Runaways, and The Gifted, Manifest, and FBI: International. Most recently, she helmed two episodes of The Nevers for HBO.

The Last of Us follows survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and the infected-immune Ellie (Bella Ramsey) through the fungal apocalypse. Season 2 has added new cast members Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick, Unbelievable) as Abby, a key character from The Last of Us: Part II video game, Young Mazino (Beef) as Jesse, and Isabela Merced (Madame Web) as Dina. The Last of Us season 2 begins filming February 12 ahead of an expected 2025 release on HBO and the streaming service Max.

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When The Last of Us debuted on HBO about a year ago, it easily became one of the most buzzed-about television shows in recent memory. The live-action The Last of Us series, which adapts the beloved video game series of the same name, is currently gearing up for work on its second season, which has started a lot of conversation among the franchise’s fans. The fate of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) in The Last of Us Part II is one of the most major plot developments in the entire franchise, and some have wondered exactly how it might carry over into The Last of Us TV show. In a recent interview with Deadline, Pascal addressed the possibility that Season 2 of The Last of Us might deviate from the source material with regards to Joel — and revealed that he doesn’t fully have an idea of what the plan is.

“I think that they’re always going to find ways to build on the incredible source material that they have, and surprise us with how they can use that material in a different format, like a television show,” Pascal explained. “But I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anybody, and the truth is, I don’t actually have all of the information, as of yet.”

Will Joel Survive in The Last of Us Season 2?

Pascal’s new comments come after The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin teased that the show might stray from its source material with regards to Joel. As those who have played The Last of Us Part II know, Joel dies several hours into the game by being hit with a golf club by new character Abby, before the game pivots to Ellie and Abby as protagonists.

“This should be fairly obvious to anyone by now, but I don’t fear killing characters,” Mazin explained in an interview last year. “But the important thing to note is that neither Neil [Druckmann, who co-created and exec-produces the series with Mazin] nor I feel constrained by the source material.”

Who Is Cast in Season 2 of The Last of Us?

New cast members for The Last of Us Season 2 will include Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, No One Will Save You) as Abby, Isabela Merced (Madame Web, Superman: Legacy) as Dina, and Young Mazino (Beef, Prodigal Son) as Jesse.

“I’m never gonna say there are things that are gonna happen in the show that happened in the game. You never know what we’re gonna do,” Mazin revealed in an interview last year. “But I will say that it is the adventure, the journey is the point. There are things that will shock people, things that were in the game, things that were not in the game, and that’s okay. As long as they’re purposeful, they’re not there to just simply shock. We are not interested in creating social media fear. We just want to tell the story the way we think it should be told.”

“Will there be furor? Yeah, probably. I mean, there usually is, starting even with casting,” Mazin continued. “We knew they were the exact right person to cast and they had to go through quite a few months of people being awful on social media until they saw what we saw. That, to me, is the point. We don’t operate to either make people happy on social media or avoid making them upset. We just do what we think is right, and we hope that people come along for the ride and enjoy it.”

What do you think of Pedro Pascal’s new comments about Season 2 of The Last of Us? Do you hope the TV show changes Joel’s fate? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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It’s been almost two years since the Season 2 finale of HBO’s Euphoria, but now there’s a major update on the eagerly anticipated third season of the hit series. Speaking with Variety, HBO and Max content chairman/CEO Casey Bloys offered updates on several series, including Euphoria and while he wouldn’t confirm if the third season would be the series’ last, he did reveal that creator and executive producer Sam Levinson is currently writing the upcoming season of the popular series.

“Obviously the cast have all become stars, which you love to see — and Zendaya is obviously a big movie star,” Bloys said. “So, there is a practical reality to that. But it also depends on the stories Sam wants to tell. He’s in the thick of writing Season 3 right now and we’ll leave it up to him and have those conversations about what he wants to do.”

When Will Euphoria Return For Season 3?

Euphoria was officially renewed by HBO in February 2022 with the next season of anticipated to debut in 2025 where it is believed to feature a major time jump from the end of Season 2

“I’ll do everything I can to make the third season of the show successful,” costume designer Heidi Bivens said last year. “I’m really excited to read the scripts. There is talk of it being approximately five years in the future, and that they’re not in high school anymore. Dorothy’s not in Kansas anymore. I mean, it might be a total trip. Who can say? But knowing Sam’s brain, it’s gonna be exciting, and he will challenge all of us, because he won’t want to repeat himself. It’ll be something new for the audience to discover.”

What Is Euphoria About?

Euphoria follows a group of high school students as they navigate love and friendships in a world of drugs, sex, trauma, and social media. The series is executive produced by Drake, along with manager Future the Prince.

The ensemble cast includes actor and singer Zendaya, Maude Apatow, the late Angus Cloud, Eric Dane, Alexa Demie, Jacob Elordi, Barbie Ferreira, Nika King, Storm Reid, Hunter Schafer, Algee Smith and Sydney Sweeney.

Bloys Also Had An Update About The Last of Us Season 2

It wasn’t just Euphoria that Bloys had updates about. He also had updates about the eagerly anticipated second season of The Last of Us, directly addressing series star Pedro Pascal’s shoulder injury. According to Bloys, production is working around the issue.

“I think they figured out a way,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly what the production plan is, but I know that they have taken that [injury] into account. I don’t even know the exact nature of the injury, but I know that production has figured out a way to work around it.”

Are you looking forward to Season 3 of Euphoria? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

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HBO’s The Last of Us TV series is gearing up for production on Season 2 – but there’s a hiccup. And we’re not talking about the aftereffects of the writers’ and actors’ strikes from last year. 

Last of Us TV series star Pedro Pascal made big headlines when he was spotted at awards season events like the Golden Globes and Emmys with his right arm in a sling. While doing the press lines at those events, Pascal revealed that he took a fall at his family home, causing an injury to his right shoulder. That unfortunate development has also left one big question hanging in the air: 

How will Pedro Pascal’s injury affect production on The Last of Us Season 2?

Variety had a chance to sit down with Casey Bloys, HBO’s and Max’s content chairman/CEO, about what the next slate of HBO projects is looking like after the strikes. When it comes to The Last of Us Season 2, Bloys directly addressed the new challenges that come with Pedro Pascal’s injury.

According to Bloys, production on The Last of Us Season 2 is continuing uninterrupted, “I think they figured out a way,” he said. “I can’t tell you exactly what the production plan is. But I know that they have taken that [injury] into account. I don’t even know the exact nature of the injury, but I know that production has figured out a way to work around it.”

Upon analysis, Pedro Pascal’s injury seemed to most likely be some kind of strain or tear – rather than a break – meaning that his arm and shoulder would technically be functional – just not fully. Hollywood productions have considerable resources to throw at their stars when it comes to medical treatment and physical therapy, so it’s not crazy to think that HBO could get through his shoot on The Last of Us Season 2 while also rehabilitating his injury. 

Without dropping any spoilers, there’s also the fact that Pascal’s role as Joel in The Last of Us Season 2 may not immediately demand too much of him physically. It’s no spoiler to say that there will need to be some re-establishment of place, characters, and context, for the next chapter of the series – not to mention the build-up to the larger story arc of the season. With a little re-arrangement, Pascal could easily film the less-demanding scenes of character interactions and dialogue, while leaving any action moments to his stunt double. 

The Last of Us Season 2 is in production at HBO.  

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The 2024 GLAAD Media Awards has released the list of nominees for their ceremony. Comics, TV and film will alll be well represented at the big show. This year marks the 35th edition of the show. There are 310 nominees spread out among 33 categories. Recent hits like The Color Purple are well represented. Prestige TV like The Last of Us works its way into the mix as well. Beyonce fans are going to want to be seated as the mega-star will be receiving a special recognition award for Renaissance A Film by Beyonce. She famously won a GLAAD Vanguard Award back in 2019. 

A ton of familiar names are in the mix for the coming year. Movies like The Blackening, American Fiction, Anyone But You, Knock at the Cabin and All of Us Strangers are all up for awards. Over on the streaming side of things, Cassandro, Rustin, Red, White and Royal Blue, and Nyad are up for consideration as well. In the TV sphere, dramas are here in force. And Just Like That…, Our Flag Means Death, Ted Lasso, Sex Education, Riverdale, Grey’s Anatomy, and 9-1-1: Lone Star are all mentioned among the contenders. So, the field is stuffed to the brim with shows that millions of people adore. Check out some of the categories and the nominees down below!

Outstanding Film – Wide Theatrical Release

• All of Us Strangers (Searchlight Pictures)
  
• American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)
  
• Anyone But You (Columbia Pictures)
  
• The Blackening (Lionsgate Films)
  
• Bottoms (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
  
• The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)
  
• It’s a Wonderful Knife (RLJE Films)
  
• Knock at the Cabin (Universal Pictures)
  
• Moving On (Roadside Attractions)
  
• Shortcomings (Sony Pictures Classics)
  

Outstanding Film – Streaming or TV

• Cassandro (Amazon Prime Video)
  
• Christmas on Cherry Lane (Hallmark Channel)
  
• Friends & Family Christmas (Hallmark)
  
• Frybread Face and Me (Array Releasing)
  
• Nuovo Olimpo (Netflix)
  
• Nyad (Netflix)
  
• Red, White, and Royal Blue (Amazon Prime Video)
  
• Runs in the Family (Indigenous Film Distribution)
  
• Rustin (Netflix)
  
• You’re Not Supposed To Be Here (Lifetime Television)
  

Outstanding Documentary

• Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later (MTV Documentary Films)
  
• Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate (Netflix)
  
• Every Body (Focus Features)
  
• Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)
  
• Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia Pictures)
  
• Orlando, My Political Biography (Janus Films)
  
• Rainbow Rishta (Amazon Prime Video)
  
• Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed (HBO
  
• Documentary Films)
  
• The Stroll (HBO)
  
• “UYRA – The Rising Forest” POV (PBS)
  

Outstanding New Series

• The Buccaneers (Apple TV+)
  
• Class (Netflix)
  
• Culprits (Hulu)
  
• Deadloch (Amazon Prime Video)
  
• Everything Now (Netflix)
  
• Found (NBC)
  
• Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)
  
• The Last of Us (HBO)
  
• The Other Black Girl (Hulu)
  
• Tore (Netflix)
  

Outstanding Comedy Series

• And Just Like That… (Max)
  
• Good Omens (Amazon Prime Video)
  
• Harlem (Prime Video)
  
• Harley Quinn (Max)
  
• Our Flag Means Death (Max)
  
• Sex Education (Netflix)
  
• Somebody Somewhere (HBO)
  
• Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
  
• What We Do In The Shadows (FX)
  
• With Love (Amazon Prime Video)
  

Outstanding Drama Series

• 9-1-1: Lone Star (Fox)
  
• The Chi (Showtime)
  
• Chucky (SyFy/USA Network)
  
• Doctor Who (Disney+)
  
• Good Trouble (Freeform)
  
• Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
  
• Quantum Leap (NBC)
  
• Riverdale (The CW)
  
• Station 19 (ABC)
  
• Yellowjackets (Showtime)
  

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

• Black Cake (Hulu)
  
• Bodies (Netflix)
  
• The Confessions of Frannie Langton (Britbox)
  
• The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)
  
• Fellow Travelers (Showtime)
  
• The Full Monty (FX on Hulu)
  
• The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (Amazon Prime Video)
  
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix)
  
• Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Netflix)
  
• Transatlantic (Netflix)
  

Outstanding Reality Program

• Bargain Block (HGTV)
  
• Family Karma (Bravo)
  
• I Am Jazz (TLC)
  
• Living for the Dead (Hulu)
  
• Queer Eye (Netflix)
  
• Real Housewives of New York City (Bravo)
  
• Selling Sunset (Netflix)
  
• Swiping America (Max)
  
• TRANSworld Atlanta (Tubi)
  
• The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix)
  

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

• The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula (Shudder/AMC+)
  
• The Challenge: Battle for a New Champion (MTV)
  
• Drag Me to Dinner (Hulu)
  
• Love Trip: Paris (Freeform)
  
• My Kind of Country (Apple TV+)
  
• Next in Fashion (Netflix)
  
• Project Runway (Bravo)
  
• RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV)
  
• Survivor (CBS)
  
• The Voice (NBC)
  

Outstanding Children’s Programming

• “Any Way You Slice It” Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City (Netflix)
  
• “Blue River Wedding” Ada Twist: Scientist (Netflix)
  
• Bossy Bear (Nick Jr.)
  
• Firebuds (Disney Jr.)
  
• Monster High (Nickelodeon)
  
• Pinecone & Pony (AppleTV+)
  
• Princess Power (Netflix)
  
• Ridley Jones (Netflix)
  
• Summer Camp Island (Cartoon Network)
  
• Work It Out Wombats! (PBS Kids)
  

Outstanding Kids & Family Programing or Film

• Heartstopper (Netflix)
  
• High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (Disney+)
  
• Jane (AppleTV+)
  
• Power Rangers Cosmic Fury (Netflix)
  
• XO, Kitty (Netflix)
  

Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Animated

• Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (Max)
  
• Craig Of The Creek (Cartoon Network)
  
• The Dragon Prince (Netflix)
  
• The Ghost and Molly McGee (Disney Channel)
  
• Hailey’s On It! (Disney Channel)
  
• The Loud House (Nickelodeon)
  
• Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Disney Channel)
  
• Nimona (Netflix)
  
• The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (Disney+)
  
• Transformers: EarthSpark (Paramount+)
  

Outstanding Video Game

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
  
• Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
  
• Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores (Guerrilla Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
  
• Little Goody Two Shoes (AstralShift/Square Enix)
  
• Overwatch 2 (Blizzard Entertainment)
  
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios/Humble Games)
  
• Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
  
• Thirsty Suitors (Outerloop Games/Annapurna Interactive)
  
• This Bed We Made (Lowbirth Games)
  
• Too Hot To Handle 2 (Nanobit/Netflix Games)
  

Outstanding Comic Book

• Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, written by Tom Taylor (DC Comics)
  
• Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain, written by Tini Howard (Marvel Comics)
  
• Hawkgirl, written by Jadzia Axelrod (DC Comics)
  
• Killer Queens 2, written by David M. Booher (Dark Horse Comics)
  
• The Neighbors, written by Jude Ellison S. Doyle (BOOM! Studios)
  
• New Mutants Lethal Legion, written by Charlie Jane Anders (Marvel Comics)
  
• The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, written by Tate Brombal based on an idea by James Tynion IV (Dark Horse Comics)
  
• Poison Ivy, written by G. Willow Wilson (DC Comics)
  
• Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, written by Alyssa Wong (Marvel Comics)
  
• Tim Drake: Robin, written by Meghan Fitzmartin (DC Comics)
  

Outstanding Original Graphic Novel/Anthology

• Blackward, by Lawrence Lindell (Drawn & Quarterly)
  
• Carmilla: The First Vampire, written by Amy Chu (Berger Books/Dark Horse Comics)
  
• Cosmoknights (Book Two), by Hannah Templer (Top Shelf Productions)
  
• Four-Color Heroes, by Richard Fairgray (Fanbase Press)
  
• Heartstopper Vol. 5, by Alice Oseman (Graphix/Scholastic)
  
• Light Carries On, by Ray Nadine (Dark Horse Books)
  
• Northranger, written by Rey Terciero (HarperAlley)
  
• Parallel, by Matthias Lehmann (ONI Press)
  
• Roaming, by Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
  
• Us, by Sara Soler (Dark Horse Books)
  

Who do you think will win? Let us know down in the comments!

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The Last Of Us producer Craig Mazin addressed the possibility of a Bill and Frank return. Now, for obvious reasons, there would have to be some manuvering there. But, executive producer Craig Mazin had to pour some cold water on the idea on a prequel starring Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett. He told Deadline, “I’m very proud of the episode we did with Bill and Frank. There won’t be more Bill and Frank.” Of course, this made some fans of the series sad. But, Offerman had been joking about doing a series set before the events of that tragic episode. Mazin added,  “Nick was joking about a prequel, that was kind of a joke. We are very happy with what we achieved.” So, you’ll have to hold that episode dear as The Last of Us Part II grows closer.

Backstage at the Emmy Awards, Offerman couldn’t help joking about bringing Bill and Frank back. “Oh, great question but I would have to ask somebody with a higher pay grade than myself,” Offerman began. “It certainly has been pitched. I think we pitched a whole mini-series of a prequel of their lives before they met each other. It could be a musical. We’re not short on ideas. We’ll just we’ll see what Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann] come up with.”

How Did Bill and Frank’s Fate Change?

Neil Druckmann is the man behind The Last of Us. He and Mazin had to discuss such a big change to the narrative from the first game. In the official podcast for the show, Druckmann talked about making that decision and how they navigated switching it up. Obviously, the Bill and Frank episode paid dividends for the fans out there.

“The thing I get nervous the most about changes is changing the fate of a character. And here we have a very different fate for Bill than we do in the game,” Druckmann mused. “Then I try to do the math of weighing it: ‘How much do we gain?’ To me, when you deviate that much, there’s a certain cost to it. It was such a beautiful story that explores the themes of love and the complexity that comes with love, and the happiness, and pain.”

Druckmann added, “Even though this Bill dies, and Bill doesn’t die in the game, it’s a happier ending, much happier, because he lived a full life. We’re demonstrating — because, eventually, where some of the story goes [in upcoming episodes] — there’s a demonstration of, ‘Here’s what you stand to lose when you love someone. You can feel this immense loss. But here’s what you gain.’ The contrast of those two things in this episode I feel really elevates Joel and Ellie’s journey through the telling of a bottle episode.”

How Did The Director Approach The Story?

The Last of Us‘s third episode has been one of the best-received episodes of television over the last three years. Peter Hoar direct the Bill and Frank episode. He told Deadline about making all those people at home cry their eyes out.

“I didn’t certainly set out to tell a story that would make the world cry uncontrollably, but I did,” Hoar explained. “There was one note that I gave Murray. I said, maybe this is the scene where we don’t cry. It was impossible because Bill was so passionate and in the moment saying to his love Frank that he was his purpose. And Murray was like, ‘I can’t do it. Look at him, I can’t do it. He’s just so beautiful and human I just can’t hold it in.’ So, that note was redundant! I’m there to make people feel something.”

Do you wish there would be a Frank and Bill spinoff? Let us know down in the comments!

The post The Last of Us Showrunner Speaks Out on Bill and Frank Return for Season 2 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

One of the directors of Loki will reportedly helm an episode of The Last of Us season 2. The Last of Us is one of the most coveted franchises in entertainment right now. It has held a lot of prestige in the gaming industry for a decade now as the first game is widely regarded as one of the best games ever made. It won tons of awards, sold tens of millions of copies, and helped usher in a new era for PlayStation as it began to focus more on cinematic, story-based games. A decade later, the game would get a sequel and a TV adaptation, both of which would also get showered in praise and awards. The HBO series has set records for the company and the second season is one of the most anticipated seasons of television on the horizon.

We’ve started to get casting announcements for and it is expected to begin shooting in just a couple of weeks. It has also been confirmed that the second season will at least adapt some of The Last of Us Part II and now, we’re starting to get a better idea of what that might look like. According to insider Jeff Sneider, Loki season 1 director Kate Herron will helm at least one episode of The Last of Us season 2. Sneider speculated she may direct more than one episode, but could only confidently claim one episode. As of right now, it’s unclear what episode(s) she will direct, but given how dense The Last of Us Part II is at a game, it’s likely there won’t be any “filler” episodes. Herron received a lot of acclaim for her work on Loki, a show that is regarded as one of Marvel’s best Disney+ shows, if not the best period. 

The Last of Us season 2 will have to fight a pretty big uphill battle as the second game is incredibly divisive among fans. While we won’t spoil anything here for those that aren’t already familiar with the game, there are major story choices that angered a lot of fans and made some players swear off seeing it through to the end. It’s expected that the second season will once again faithfully adapt the game and therefore be a challenging watch for some viewers. Whether it can be executed or handled in a different way to make it less divisive remains to be seen. It will be a rare opportunity for a piece of material to possibly get a second chance at handling a controversial story decision and maybe do it in a way that is easier to swallow.

The post The Last of Us Season 2: Loki Director Reportedly Working on New Episodes appeared first on ComicBook.com.

HBO’s The Last of Us TV series has revealed some major casting for Season 2, including the pivotal roles of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), Dena (Isabela Merced), and Jesse (Young Mazino). Now that the official announcements are out there, the new members of The Last of Us TV series are getting to let fans know how they feel about taking on the role – and it’s Young Mazino’s turn. 

Mazino was on the red carpet for the 2024 Emmys, thanks to his breakout role in Netflix’s hit series Beef. Reporters were curious about how Mazino feels about playing Jesse in The Last of Us – and this is what he had to say to Variety: 

“After the strike ended, I was able to get a meeting with the showrunners and we kind of just shopped it up. I played the video game before the meeting and we had a long talk about their process and what they’re looking for. I guess Beef pushed me the rest of the way. That’s the beauty of where I’m getting at now. It’s a conversation more than an audition process.”

As of now, Mazino hasn’t met the rest of his Last of Us family: “I haven’t met Pedro or Bella. I have DM’d Bella, but I haven’t had the pleasure of talking to them, but I will soon.”

As for how he views the role of Jesse – Mazino couldn’t talk about it at all, lest he spoil the major events of the second season, but he wasn’t shy about how happy he was to be getting the opportunity: “There’s nothing I can say. I am happy for me. I’m so happy I can work again.”

Like Young Mazino, there’s little we can say about how Jesse factors into The Last of Us Season 2 storyline, other than to say he is a major supporting character in The Last of Us Part II video game. He also has a complicated history with Isabela Merced’s Dina, which creates a whole new set of character dynamics from the more isolated Joel and Ellie story of the first season. 

Production on Season 2 of The Last of Us is set to begin in February and will continue throughout 2024. HBO hasn’t yet provided a specific release date window, but it’s being projected that Season 2 won’t debut until some point in 2025. There’s also been previous indication that The Last of Us: Part II game could be padded with new original material to fill multiple new seasons of the TV show.

The post The Last of Us’ Jesse Actor Breaks Silence on Landing Season 2 Role appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Monday brought about the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, which honored the past year of television with pretty great fanfare. The Emmys featured a number of memorable acceptance speeches, as well as a fair share of viral moments — including one between two of Hollywood’s biggest fan-favorites. Just before presenting the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series to Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen, The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal briefly took time to address his recent shoulder injury. Pascal joked — just as the audio on the telecast cut out — that his fellow Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series nominee, Succession star Kieran Culkin, “beat the sh-t out of” him. 

For those who are unaware, Pascal and Culkin have jokingly been at the heart of a recent Internet beef, beginning with a viral moment at The Hollywood Reporters’ Drama Actors Roundtable last May. At the 2024 Golden Globes earlier this month, Culkin celebrated his Best Actor win by jokingly crying out “Suck it, Pedro!”

Will Succession Get a Season 5?

Succession came to a close last year, earning a smattering of critical acclaim and a lot of fervor from fans. HBO has not confirmed any sort of spinoff series for Succession, although Culkin has offered his own take on the endgame for his character, Roman Roy.

“None of the siblings are in a particularly good place at the end. I’ve heard that interpretation, and I think that’s interesting,” Culkin revealed in an interview last year. “A lot of people just go, ‘Well, he’s got tons of money — he’ll be fine!’ Which just isn’t really the case for these people. I don’t think it’s as simple as, ‘Well, I guess I’ve got my riches and my martini, I’m fine.’ I don’t think he’s OK.”

“I think he has evolved as a person. I don’t think he’s gained nothing from this,” Culkin continued. “The thing that gets me, even at the end of Season 3, was if Roman’s cut out of the company, and there’s no reason for him specifically to come to the office and interact with his siblings, they don’t have the capacity to say, ‘Hey, I miss you. Let’s get together and hang out.’ I think he not only just genuinely loves his family, I think he needs them. Now that it’s done, and he’s out, and they’re all out: When is he going to see them again? Who does he have? He has fucking nobody. That’s it. And siblings are out there, somewhere. And it’s not like we’re gonna get together for a beer. He’s very much alone. Have you ever seen Roman with a friend?”

Is Pedro Pascal Joining the MCU?

Late last year, reports suggested that Pascal is expected to pivot towards an entirely new franchise, portraying Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic in Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four reboot film. The casting has yet to be confirmed by Marvel Studios or Pascal himself, although director Matt Shakman has addressed fans’ anticipation for the news.

“There will be an announcement at some point!” Shakman explained in an interview last year. “I know that the internet is very excited to find out, and I’m excited to share it. I just can’t do it yet.”

What do you think of Pedro Pascal’s new joke about Kiernan Culkin during the 2024 Emmys? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The post Emmys: Pedro Pascal Jokes Succession’s Kieran Culkin Caused His Recent Injury appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The ComicBook Nation Crew reviews Marvel’s Echo, Mean Girls (2024), and the new Ultimate Spider-Man series – while our gaming team reveals their first gameplay reactions to DC’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League!  

PLUS: We talk about big casting news for DC’s Supergirl movie, HBO’s The Last of Season 2 and The Witcher Season 4! The show has never been thicccer! 

Echo Review

ComicBook.com critic Adam Barnhardt had the following to say in his review of Marvel’s Echo: 

Echo isn’t Kingpin’s show, nor is it Daredevil’s, so don’t go into this thinking it will be Daredevil Season 3.5. This show belongs to Maya Lopez and Alaqua Cox, and both of them are newfound superstars. It’s a Marvel show disguised as a television drama, with just enough action set pieces to remind you it’s a piece of comic book cinema. With everything Marvel Studios has gone through since the days of Avengers: Endgame, Echo is just what the doctor ordered: a character-driven examination of the MCU’s latest star. If this show is any indication of what fans can expect from future Marvel Spotlight releases, Marvel Studios is in tip-top shape.

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