Summary
- Showrunner Craig Mazin claims that most of the fan predictions and theories he's seen regarding The Last of Us season 2 are wrong.
- Season 1 largely adhered to Naughty Dog's The Last of Us video game, but it did feature some deviations.
- Season 2 is expected to generally follow this pattern, so it's not clear what theories Mazin is debunking.
The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin responds to popular theories and predictions about season 2 of his HBO hit series. Serving as an adaptation of the popular Naughty Dog video game franchise, The Last of Us premiered last year, telling the story of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they traverse a post-apocalyptic United States. The show is confirmed to return for season 2, with filming on the upcoming batch of episodes already underway in Canada.
During a recent appearance on the Scriptnotes podcast (via GamesRadar), Mazin comments on The Last of Us season 2, specifically touching on the theories and predictions that are floating around online. According to the showrunner, most of the predictions he's seen have completely missed the mark. Read his full comment below:
"I’ve been monitoring things on the internet a little bit, people are very clever, they like to see where we’re shooting and then they have all these brilliant theories about what it means. I wish I could put my arm around each one of them and say, ‘No.’ Most of the theories are incorrect, some of them are halfways correct, some of the conjecture is like 28% correct. But I do enjoy it all, I like the interest, it's fun."
And How Much Will Season 2 Differ From The Naughty Dog Video Game?
Warning! Major spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Part II video game.
Mazin doesn't mention any specific theories about The Last of Us season 2, so it's difficult to know what he's actually debunking here. What makes his comment more curious is that the series is adapting the story of a video game franchise, meaning there's already a general sense of what is to come in season 2. It's possible, however, that Mazin's comment means there are some story deviations that will occur in the upcoming batch of episodes.
The Last of Us season 2's cast includes the introduction of characters from the games like Dina (Isabela Merced) and Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), which could suggest a general faithfulness to the source material.
Season 1 largely adhered to Naughty Dog's source material, but it did make some changes here and there. The Bill and Frank episode, for example, is something created just for the show, with Bill appearing only as a minor character and Frank not appearing at all in the video game. It seems like The Last of Us season 2 could generally follow this same approach, and HBO executive Casey Bloys even outright told Deadline in January that the new season "follows the video game".
When it comes to season 2, the biggest question is really how the show is going to handle the death of Joel, which happens in The Last of Us Part II. There's a great deal of uncertainty regarding whether the controversial story event will play out as it does in the game, or even if it will happen at all. The Last of Us season 1's ending certainly tees up a faithful recreation of Joel's storyline from the games, but Mazin's comment makes clear that most predictions haven't yet figured out how exactly the show will handle it.
