HBO and its representatives have stated multiple times that the plan was for its live-action adaptation of The Last of Us to span at least four seasons. The show just wrapped up its second season, covering roughly the first half of The Last of Us Part II’s story, and showrunner Craig Mazin has said he plans to continue the show for at least two more to cover the rest of the sequel’s revenge story. However, HBO and Max content chairman/CEO Casey Bloys says that isn’t set in stone, and I think it would be cool as fuck if the company showed an uncharacteristic amount of mercy and cut that shit down to three seasons total.
In an interview with Variety, Bloys says that while the third season, focusing on Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby, is on track to premiere in 2027, Mazin hasn’t nailed down whether the show will go on for four seasons or wrap up with a longer third one.
“The series is definitely planned for 2027,” Bloys told Variety. “Craig is still working it out whether it will be two more seasons or one more long season. It hasn’t been decided yet, and I’m following Craig’s lead on that.”
The big difference between when Bloys said this and when Mazin originally talked about aiming for four seasons is that Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross, the original writers on The Last of Us Part II, have since stepped away from the show to focus on their work at Naughty Dog developing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. It’s entirely possible plans have changed after the creative shakeup, but Bloys says that Druckmann gave the team a “good blueprint” for the rest of the show, even if he’s not working on it himself.
“Obviously it was great to have Neil involved in the beginning,” Bloys said. “The whole reason that I wanted to do Last of Us is after Chernobyl, I said to Craig, ‘what do you want to do next?’ And Last of Us was what he wanted to do. That’s what was most important to me, Craig’s creative excitement about the show. It was fantastic to have Neil involved. A lot of people don’t realize that Neil has a full-time job creating video games and running Naughty Dog. It’s a really big job that he’s got. So I understand why he needs to focus on that. But I believe he’s given us a good blueprint with the show. And obviously Craig is a pro, so I think we’ll be in excellent shape. I’m not worried at all.”
Bloys isn’t worried, but I am. Mazin’s hokey approach to The Last of Us Part II’s story made steam come out of my ears like an old-timey cartoon, and given some of the subject matter of the rest of the game, I’m bracing myself for at least one more season of that. A slightly longer third season is all that’s really necessary to finish Part II’s story, but I’m not holding my breath that HBO can help itself. The show somehow got a fair bit of Emmy recognition, including Pedro Pascal getting nominated for Best Lead Actor despite being in less than half of the seven-episode season. Why die with dignity when you can squeeze out another year of awards season buzz?