Naughty Dog chief Neil Druckmann may not be so sure about another chapter in The Last of Us video games franchise, but the TV show is firing on all cylinders in this latest revealing trailer for the show’s upcoming second season on HBO.
The clip was unveiled during a panel at South by Southwest (SXSW) over the weekend that featured Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna, Young Mazino, Craig Mazin, and Neil Druckmann.
In keeping with the game franchise (in broad terms), HBO teases that the upcoming season is set five years after the events of the first. Joel and Ellie are now drawn into conflict with each other over Joel’s damning and guilty secret, and into a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.
Of course, at the center of Season Two’s drama is that terrible secret Joel has been keeping from Ellie for over 5 years.
Just in case you need a reminder: In Season One, Joel was tasked with delivering Ellie to the Fireflies, as her immunity to the Cordyceps infection held hope for a cure for humanity.
However upon arrival Joel realised that the “cure” was more of an experimental surgery, involving a lot of slicing and dicing of Ellie’s brain — a procedure she would not survive.
Joel was forced to shoot his way out while rescuing an unconscious Ellie from the operating table, but in doing so, he murdered the last of the scientists who may have been able to work on a cure. He also later told Ellie a different story — the docs examined her, and found her to be an unsuitable candidate. Everyone agreed to shake hands and allow Joel and Ellie to return to Jackson unharmed.
Although a bewildered Ellie forced Joel to swear on this peculiar version of events, she has harboured suspicions for 5 years. Those suspicions form the basis of a brutal and heartbreaking chain of events in The Last of Us 2 video game sequel, and form the basis of the action over Season’s Two and Three of the HBO show.
“It’s fucking heartbreaking,” commented series star Pedro Pascal on the upcoming season’s events. “The showrunners are sick people!”
“A lot of what’s going on in the season is evolution and change,” Executive Producer Craig Mazin added. “Ellie is growing up, and she is changing. This town of Jackson is growing up. It is expanding. It’s taking in refugees. And the world outside is changing. It was important to us to always move the ball forward with the infected.”
Season Two returning cast includes Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy, and Rutina Wesley as Maria.
Previously announced new cast includes Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Ariela Barer as Mel, Tati Gabrielle as Nora, Spencer Lord as Owen, Danny Ramirez as Manny, and Jeffrey Wright as Isaac.
Catherine O’Hara also guest stars as Joel’s therapist, in a role created for the show.
The Last of Us debuts a 7-episode second season on Sunday, April 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
New episodes will debut subsequent Sundays.
