The live-action adaptation of The Last of Us video game series for HBO was praised by fans and critics alike when it aired in 2023. With Season 2 production currently underway, the critically-acclaimed HBO show is teasing a major location from the PlayStation series.
Per Collider, set photos from The Last of Us Season 2 productions in Vancouver, Canada, are being publicly released online. One set of photos by Layout Artist Cristina Barper features an abandoned drug store named Weston's Pharmacy. For fans of The Last of Us video games on PlayStation and PC, this building isn’t just a throwaway set piece. It’s the location where Ellie Williams searches for medication to heal Joel Miller from the injuries he sustained at the University of Eastern Colorado.
Although Weston’s Pharmacy is mostly associated with The Last of Us: Left Behind, the drug store chain also makes an appearance in The Last of Us: Part II as an optional mission. Additionally, Sony and developer Naughty Dog created a real-life X account for the fictional pharmacy that features the typical social media advertisements that slowly switches into panic mode when the dreaded virus that doomed the world finally hits. Currently, there’s no indication if the appearance of Weston’s Pharmacy is just an amusing Easter egg for the fans or possibly a hint of what to expect story-wise from the upcoming season.
At the moment, The Last of Us Season 2 is rumored to premiere in March or April 2025. While the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike slowed down progress on the HBO show, as it did with most Hollywood productions, showrunner Craig Mazin revealed that The Last of Us Season 2 was already mapped out before the strike occurred. Even though the new season will take inspiration from The Last of Us: Part II, Mazin revealed in March that of the fan theories he’s seen on the internet, only 28% are correct.
"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," Mazin said. “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 halfway correct, some of the conjecture is like 28% correct. But I do enjoy it all, I like the interest, it's fun.”
Abby Arrives in Season 2 of The Last of Us
What has been confirmed is that actor Kaitlyn Dever will play Abby Anderson, the highly-divisive character of The Last of Us: Part II that plays a major role in the game's storyline. Isabela Merced is also joining the cast of The Last of Us Season 2 as Dina, Ellie’s love interest from the PlayStation sequel. Season 1 of the HBO series is currently available to stream on Max (formerly HBO Max).
