The Last of Us Renewed for Second Season
HBO has announced that Joel and Ellie’s journey will continue as the network has renewed The Last of Us for a second season. The post-apocalyptic series adapting the hit video game by Naughty Dog has been a huge success since it premiered and has been a title that will surely be at the top of the network’s numbers for quite some time. The third episode is set to premiere this Sunday and if the series continues its trend, you can expect it to hit near the top of the charts from the network and streaming platform.
The series stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as the titular characters Joel and Ellie. Starring alongside Pascal and Ramsey are Gabriel Luna, Jeffrey Pierce, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Anna Torv, Lamar Johnson, Nico Parker, and John Hannah. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, the stars of the video game who voiced Joel and Ellie also appear in the series. The series was written by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin who also executive produced the series.
Druckman shared his feelings about the reception the series adaptation has gotten, saying:
“I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey. The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations.”
Season 1 followed the narrative of the first game that was released in 2013. The series has been a very faithful adaptation following the narrative and scenes of the game almost frame for frame. This likely points to the series’ second season adapting The Last of Us: Part II.
This is both good and concerning news as the sequel does have a hard pill to swallow within the narrative and it will be interesting to see how this is brought into the series. Having sold millions of copies and seen itself nominated and won many awards, the series continues that stride with the second highest viewership on HBO and 22M viewers across all platforms.
The Last of Us season 1 is currently airing on HBO and streaming on HBO Max with new episodes available on Sundays.
Source: HBO
