Soon after The Last of Us' first season aired the showrunners said when the time came for series two, there would be "a lot more infected". And, well, they appear to be making good on their word.
Along with those infected hordes advancing upon Ellie and co in the trailers - not to mention Tommy using a flamethrower to toast a Bloater - The Last Of Us' Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have confirmed Stalkers will be featured in season two.
"All I'll say is that for the people who want to see more of the infected... Buckle up!" Mazin teased in conversation with Empire.
"You get to see a different evolution of this infection," added Druckmann. "It's kept certain parts of their brain alive, so they are smarter. They coordinate and hide and do things that we've never seen any other infected do on this show."
And, it is not just Stalkers that will bring a change when the second season of The Last of Us airs next month. The showrunners have confirmed spores are also making a return.
The Last of Us' spores are depicted as particle mists, but while a key feature in both games, the showrunners refrained from adding them to the first season of the show. Back in January 2023, it was revealed the Cordyceps infection would instead be spread by "tendrils" in series one.
In season two, however, there will be "an escalation of numbers and types of infected", as well as "an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads" Druckmann said during SXSW 2025.
"The reason [we're doing spores now], I mean, we really wanted to figure it out, and again, everything has to be drama. There had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now," Druckmann said, teasing:
"And there is."
The second season of The Last of Us is set to kick off in the US on 13th April, and will comprise seven episodes, with one of those episodes being "quite big" in length. It remains unclear where the second season of The Last of Us will wrap up, but the showrunners have already confirmed it will not cover the entirety of Part 2's narrative.
Returning cast members include Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Gabriel Luna as Tommy and Rutina Wesley as Maria. New faces for season two, meanwhile, include Kaitlyn Dever as Abby and Joe Pantoliano as Eugene, with a role that has been expanded upon from the game in the style of the first season's award winning Bill and Frank episode.
Earlier this month, Dever spoke more about her role as The Last of Us' Abby, stating she wants "to do this character justice and make the fans proud" on the second season's debut.
