According to Daniel RPK (via @TheLastofUsNews), Pascal has already wrapped filming on the series—just two months after the series started production. This has lead fans to speculate that Pascal will barely be in the second season, and that’s why his time shooting for the series was so short.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that Joel’s involvement could be shorter without having to adapt that scene. After all, Ellie and new character Abby are the main focus of the second game. It’s possible that all the moments with Joel are just short as compared to Ellie and Abby who have a lot of development to go through if we’re going to build up to the timeline of the games.

So far, The Last of Us has remained a gold standard when it comes to adapting games for series. Sonic the Hedgehog may be a box office gem, but TLOU was a critical darling when it came out, even being praised by fans for adding more to the source material and staying true to the core of the series.

With the second game being so divisive, we should expect the format of the story to be changed for television—but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

The Last of Us Season 2 is expected to premiere early 2025.

Like with every adaptation, fans are wondering how exactly this would be connected to the established canon of the games, and Nolan says that it’s essentially like writing the story for the next Fallout game. “Each of the [Fallout] games is a discrete story – different city, distinct protagonist – within the same mythology,” explains Nolan to TotalFilm, “Our series sits in relation to the games as the games sit in relation to each other. It’s almost like we’re Fallout 5. I don’t want to sound presumptuous, but it’s just a non-interactive version of it, right?”

With a world that has very dense lore and a huge landscape, it would be pretty easy to just make some new characters that just exist in that world. Albeit, it does seem that the story in the series is going to take some inspiration from the games, what with Ella Purnell’s character seemingly looking for her long lost dad (Kyle MacLachlan).

Then again, I’m just guessing that plot point based on the trailer.

With Nolan’s brother being infamous for adapting Batman on the big screen, he also explains how adapting Fallout is kind of like the same task. “Fallout, in my career, is closest to the work we did in adapting Batman, where there’s so much storytelling in the Batman universe that there is no canonical version of it, so you’re free to invent your own,” says Nolan.

We don’t know how Fallout will be received when it comes out, but so far I think everything looks fantastic. Fingers crossed they have another Last of Us on their hands (and not another Halo).

Watch out for Fallout when it premieres on Amazon Prime Video on April 12.

That being said, characters that were introduced in the second game are now going to be making their live-action debuts, and after the casting of Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, we now have news on who is playing two key characters from Jackson in Part II.

Variety reports that Isabela Merced (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) has been cast as Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) love interest Dina. Show co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin share:

“Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable… You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away. We couldn’t be prouder to have her join our family.”

Isabela Merced has been cast as Dina in HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 pic.twitter.com/nwlyi0X08X

— Naughty Dog Info (@NaughtyDogInfo) January 11, 2024

Besides the part of Dina, the show has also cast Dina’s ex-boyfriend Jesse who will be played by Beef star Young Mazino. Since we don’t really expect the series to take place during the actual timeline of the second game, it’s possible Dina and Ellie don’t get together in this season, and we could just be watching Ellie get feelings for Dina while she dates Jesse.

Young Mazino will play Jesse in HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 pic.twitter.com/uexMZpp2yM

— Naughty Dog Info (@NaughtyDogInfo) January 10, 2024

Personally, I’m more concerned about the character of Abby who is considered by many as the co-protagonist of The Last of Us. Though we get her origin story late in the games, it would be good to have the second season be Abby’s origin, so we could watch her develop alongside Ellie.

We don’t know what Mazin and Druckmann have planned for this retelling, but so far, their liberties with the source material have been nothing but solid.

No release date has been set for the second season of The Last of Us.

As per Max, Dever has officially been cast in the second season of The Last of Us as Abby Anderson. Here’s the post:

Kaitlyn Dever has joined the cast of the HBO Original series #TheLastofUs for Season 2. @TheLastofUsHBO pic.twitter.com/dFnhGsJ1x2

— Max (@StreamOnMax) January 9, 2024

We don’t know how much of Abby’s story is going to be covered in the second season, but I have a feeling that the show could very much just follow Abby’s story after the events of Joel’s massacre at the hospital and the build-up to her going to Jackson.

I honestly don’t want to spoil anything about the character in the series, but anyone who was online when the game dropped knows that Abby was pretty much the target of online vitriol that wasn’t unlike what Kelly Marie Tran was receiving after the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Already fans are hoping that Dever doesn’t receive any of that same backlash once she gets cast in the role, but I think the series is going to be telling a different approach when it comes to Abby’s story, and we could very much be on her side by the time she crosses Ellie’s path in the show.

No release date has been set for the second season of The Last of Us, but we can probably expect it sometime early 2025.

A lot of fans thought that the official reveal would come after the recent announcement of the Part II remaster, but Naughty Dog has instead announced that they have made the difficult decision not to release a multiplayer mode for TLOU Part II. Their official post said:

“… In ramping up to full production, the massive scope of our ambition became clear. To release and support The Last of Us Online we’d have to put all our studio resources behind supporting post launch content for years to come, severely impacting development on future single-player games. So, we had two paths in front of us: become a solely live service games studio or continue to focus on single-player narrative games that have defined Naughty Dog’s heritage”

Seeing that it does take a lot of work to keep a multiplayer game going (i.e., Fortnite, Overwatch, Valorant), it does make sense that Naughty Dog would have had to sacrifice a huge chunk of their entire development team to be able to just focus on the multiplayer element of the game.

If anything, The Last of Us franchise has more of shined when it comes to its deeply personal story, and it could end up being a tad lackluster for a multiplayer option that is more focused on unique characters and abilities.

Though TLOU Online didn’t push through, the Remastered version does have a new roguelike game mode that allows players to use different characters from the game with their kits enhanced to fit specific abilities. This was probably a leftover from the multiplayer version, but that’s just a guess on my part.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered is set to launch for the PS5 on Jan. 19, 2024.

Watch this:

Play the winner of over 300 Game of the Year awards, now remastered for the PlayStation®5 console. Experience for the first time or relive Ellie and Abby’s story with graphical enhancements, new gameplay modes like the roguelike survival experience No Return, full DualSense wireless controller integration, and more.

Fans know that this is basically the same game that came out back in 2020, but you can’t deny that the promise of a more graphically enhanced experience is going to draw interested people in. Not to mention we’re also going to have the chance to be able to play some ‘deleted scenes’ as well as get some new outfits for Ellie and Abby—including an astronaut outfit for Joel’s Baby Girl.

It’s also likely that some hardcore gamers will want to get their hands on the roguelike game mode—seeing that so many players have been flexing their impossible runs online. Hopefully we get more specifics when pre-orders launch next month.

Pre-orders for The Last of Us Part II Remastered stars this December, with the game officially launching for the PS5 on Jan. 19, 2024.

Dever may not have landed the role, but it does look like she could be joining the series after all; not as Ellie, but rather the sequel’s antagonist Abby.

According to The InSneider, Dever has been cast in the role of Abby Anderson. It was mentioned by series showrunner Craig Mazin that the part had already been cast back in August, and now the series is gearing up to start production of Season 2 this January.

Though some could be worried that Dever may not have the time to bulk up and match the Abby we see in the game, it has been said that the series could be splitting up the timeline in the games. It’s possible we could be seeing Abby’s history in the second season with her dad, and we can have the chase with Ellie in Part II of The Last of Us around the time of Season 3.

Before word of Dever’s casting, it was rumored that Florence Pugh (Oppenheimer) was being eyed for the role of Abby, but seeing as she’s essentially an A-lister now, Dever seems like a more realistic choice for the series—which will probably eat up a lot of time and take a lot of effort.

Of course, nothing official has been confirmed, but I think Dever would be a great choice for someone others are considering the co-protagonist of The Last of Us Part II.

No release date has been set for the second season of The Last of Us, but you can catch the first season now screening on Max. You can catch Dever in No One Will Save You now streaming on Hulu.

Talking to the LA Times, Mazin confirms that he’s worked on a treatment for a reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for Disney, but development is halted as the strikes are still ongoing. He says, “We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird… And they did! And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”

Despite the success of the Pirates films in the theaters, they have been in a kind of weird place ever since the original trilogy ended with World’s End. Some say that they have become over-reliant on the character of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) throughout the course of the films; and with Depp’s recent public dispute with ex-wife Amber Heard, Disney (and a bunch of other studios) probably don’t want him to be around their billion-dollar franchises for a good long while.

It’s unclear what direction POTC wants to move forward with. Last December, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed there were two Pirates films in the works, one starring Barbie actress Margot Robbie. It’s very likely that the project with Mazin is the second one that Bruckheimer mentioned; but as of now, we don’t have any further details.

A next Pirates of the Caribbean film hasn’t been announced, but you check out The Last of Us and Chernobyl now streaming on Max.

Since Pascal’s death was so memorable in the show, a lot of fans had apparently asked to have photos of him with their thumbs in his eyes—and this apparently led to Pascal getting an eye infection.

Talking to THR’s Round Table with several other actors, Pascal revealed, “I remember, earlier on, because of Game of Thrones and the way my character died — speaking of touching — people were super into taking selfies with their thumbs in my eyes… And at first, I was so earnest and happy about the success of the character in the show, I’d let them! And then I remember getting a bit of an eye infection.”

For context, here’s the scene from the series:

Pascal has definitely gone far since his role in Game of Thrones, and has gone on to star in several other hit series. If anything, it’s kind of a testament to his charisma that he was such a memorable role in Thrones despite only appearing in one season. I wouldn’t expect any less from the internet’s collective ‘Daddy’.

You can check out Pascal in Game of Thrones now streaming on Max, but if you want a more current show, you can watch him in The Last of Us also streaming on the same platform.

Talking to GQ, Druckmann and Mazin confirmed that The Last of Us Part II’s story will take place around multiple seasons. Here’s the exchange:

GQ: People are also speculating how Season 2 will encompass such a large game. Will the next season span the entire course of the second game?

Mazin: [shakes head] No. No way. 

Druckmann: It’s more than one season.

GQ: Can you tell us if it’s two or three seasons?

Mazin: You have noted correctly that we will not say how many. But more than one is factually correct. [Laughs].

We don’t have any specific details as to where the second season will go and how much Part II will cover, but gamers know that the seeds have already been planted in the finale. Druckmann does continue to tease, “Some of the stuff I’m most excited for [in Part 2] are the changes we’ve discussed and seeing the story come to life again in this other version. And I think it’s exciting because it leans into those feelings you had from the game, really heavily, in a new way.”

What’s amazing about the series was how it was able to introduce so many changes from the original game without making it unfaithful to the source material; like Sam being deaf and Bill’s entire arc. It’s unclear what kind of changes Druckmann wants to include, but I would love to know more about the origin of the Seraphites and maybe Abby’s dad.

The Last of Us Season 2 has no release date yet, but you can catch the completed first season now streaming on HBO Max.

Just in, we have the new preview for Episode 9, and it confirms that we’re going to see a pregnant Anna Williams being attacked by infected. Check this out:

Fans who have already played the game could piece together the some pieces from the final act of the story, but it seems that we’re going to be getting an extensive flashback featuring the circumstances of Ellie’s birth, as well as Marlene’s decision to have her sent to FEDRA’s military school.

So far, even the games have been mysterious when it comes to Ellie’s immunity, but maybe the show could go the extra mile and reveal what could have made Ellie immune. Did it have something to do with her mother getting infected during the pregnancy? I’m honestly not expecting answers, but maybe the show would be willing to explain something.

I didn’t think that the first season would be able to encapsulate the whole game, but they managed to cut through the David arc in one episode. Hopefully we get a satisfying finale, especially now that the series has established the closeness of Ellie and Joel. I wonder what they’ll have in store for Season 2?

Catch the finale of The Last of Us when it steams on HBO Max this Sunday.

As fans have pointed out online, the girl with a braid that Ellie tells off could be Dina a.k.a. Ellie’s love interest in the sequel.

https://twitter.com/codykenoboob/status/1627497753885675521

There’s even some dialogue from Part II where Dina describes seeing Ellie for the first time, trying to steal as much food as she could. It’s not exactly what happens in the series, but showrunner Craig Mazin has noticed the similarity and has mentioned it in the podcast by saying, “That doesn’t mean that that’s Dina, but it doesn’t mean it’s not.”

The posts even got the attention of Dina actress Shannon Woodward:

Oh damn was that Dina

— Shannon Woodward (@shannonwoodward) February 20, 2023

It’s definitely a neat Easter Egg, and with The Last of Us having been renewed by HBO, it’s only a matter of time before we meet Dina.

We don’t know when the series is going to start adapting Part II, but I already have a feeling that we’re going to get the season finale without having the big finale with the Fireflies like what happened in the game.

For now, watch out for new episodes of The Last of Us on HBO Max every Sunday.

Talking to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Pascal tells his story at 4:20:

Pascal details a story where he had met with showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin about the job, but since he’d taken an Ambien to make sure he got up early in the morning, he had forgotten the next day that he was cast. Apparently Pascal had to look at messages in his phone to remember that he did land the part.

So far, Pascal had been doing a great job with the role, but there has been a lot of praise when it comes to his co-stars likes Anna Torv (Tess), Nick Offerman (Bill), and Murray Bartlett (Frank). Fans who have played the game know that a lot of Joel’s more emotional moments have yet to happen, but so far, Pascal is doing great playing the shut-off, apocalypse survivor.

I guess it’s also worth mentioning that Pascal has a great co-star with Bella Ramsey’s Ellie. She may not look like the video game model, but she definitely has Ellie’s sass down pat. I can’t wait to watch the two absolutely have their hearts torn out by the end of the season.

Catch new episodes of The Last of Us every Sunday night on HBO Max.

Check it:

Pedro Pascal is here (and he’s not alone) pic.twitter.com/zqiqKbgNbD

— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 1, 2023

This isn’t also part of the teaser, but there is also a clip of Pascal twerking with the Clicker behind the scenes making the rounds online:

https://twitter.com/NaughtyNDC/status/1620961222270263296

I have to say, for an SNL bit, that clicker actually looks pretty great. No doubt, they’ll probably keep him on for another bit, because it would be such a waste of makeup if they didn’t make at least one skit poking fun at The Last of Us.

It’s also worth mentioning that Pascal is the lead star of The Mandalorian. Since Pascal only shows up as himself for like one or two episodes of that series, I would love it if SNL made fun of the fact that he never really has to appear as himself for most of the show. I guess that’s how he was able to book so many things over the past few years.

Let’s also not forget he was also in Game of Thrones. Oberyn Martell was in just one season, but Pascal had such great charm he’s still one of the more memorable characters on that series after all these years.

Catch Pascal on Saturday Night Live this weekend.

A lot of fans have been excited for the arrival of Nick Offerman’s Bill in The Last of Us, and while his arc was already pretty clear in the game, the series had decided to deviate in the biggest way when it comes to Bill and Frank’s story.

Just in, we have a featurette looking into the episode and Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin talk about the decision to make the change. Watch this:

Meet Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) and learn all about how their story deviated — and expanded — when translating the game to screen from the cast and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

If you’ve played the game, you’ll know that Joel and Ellie actually meet Bill alive, and during his chapter, they run into Frank’s body—which is revealed to have been infected, but Frank got ahead of the disease and killed himself, leaving a hateful note to Bill.

Since the series isn’t so concerned about adding action scenes around every corner, the latest episode just decided to focus on Bill and Frank’s partnership, and in a surprising twist, we see Bill exit the picture together with Frank. It’s actually a very touching moment, and fans online are all going crazy over Offerman and Bartlett’s performances.

Despite the deviation, Joel and Ellie still end up with the tools they got from Bill in the game, and now the show is gearing up for when they run into the Hunters. That should add some action after that dramatic third episode.

Catch The Last of Us series now screening on HBO Max.

In a recent interview with BuzzFeed (via NaughtyDogCentral), Druckmann explains:

“… with The Last of Us, it’s up to us whether we want to continue it or not. Our process is the same thing we did when we did Part 2, which is if we can come up with a compelling story that has this universal message and statement about love — just like the first and second game did — then we will tell that story. If we can’t come up with something, we have a very strong ending with Part 2 and that will be the end.”

With The Last of Us series on HBO Max being a huge hit, rumors have been flying around that a third game is already in development. While Druckmann’s answers make it feel like Part III hasn’t been greenlit yet, some are convinced that he’s actually being purposefully vague, since we’re still a few years away before the official announcement.

As far as story goes, I don’t think the franchise is going to end with the bleak world where the cordyceps have ruled over the Earth. If we’re just following arcs, I think the third game may actually have Ellie face the consequences of being immune, and we could get a story that finally leads to a cure.

Then again, I’m always up for stories that completely take me off guard. I’m hoping that Druckmann manages to keep the same level of emotional manipulation if The Last of Us Part III ever gets made.

For now, catch The Last of Us games now available for PlayStation. Watch out for The Last of Us series now streaming on HBO Max.

Check this out:

Besides getting the Clickers right, the show had also shown us the biggest difference between the game and the series, which is the cordyceps spread through tendrils rather than spores. We can see that bothering the tendrils will actually summon a horde of infected to your location, and when they’re not chasing anyone, the infected kind of just hang in one place and … wiggle a bit until something comes along.

I’ll admit, it’s actually a very clever mechanic, and it does seem more horrifying. In the game, Tess actually had to fight off the military, but her sacrifice in the series is still pretty clear, plus we get some more lore on the cordyceps.

For now, the series is gearing up for the debut of Nick Offerman as Bill, who, in the game, had rigged an entire town to keep himself safe. Though Bill’s story was only hinted at in the game, the series promises to really delve into his character, including his romance with Frank. We may even be looking at a flashback between Bill and Joel. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Catch new episodes of The Last of Us on HBO Max every Sunday.

The original article is as follows:

Fans are gearing up for the release of a new Mandalorian trailer during the NDL Wild Card game tonight, and to hype up the release, Lucasfilm has dropped a new poster featuring Din Djarin and the eternal baby Grogu.

Check this out:

Check out the poster for the new season of #TheMandalorian. Don’t miss the official trailer, airing tonight during the NFL Wild Card Game at 8:15 PM ET on @ESPN and @ABCnetwork. pic.twitter.com/vPtSJPfi9o

— The Mandalorian (@themandalorian) January 16, 2023

The poster doesn’t really give anything away, but the last trailer has hinted that Din will now play a more active role in the reclaiming of Mandalore, and with the Darksaber in hand, it’s possible that he would end up ruling it.

Then again, the spirit of the show has always been more of a ‘new-adventure-every-week’ format, so I imagine that it will keep being that way with Din and Grogu travelling to different planets with all kinds of stories.

I have to say, The Mandalorian really timed their new trailer release with the premiere of The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal. Though Pascal is now the face of video game daddy Joel, Lucasfilm is reminding us that he’s also a single space dad when it comes to his 50-year-old baby Grogu. I guess it’s pretty convenient when Pascal only has to physically show up two episodes a season, and the rest of the work is just voiceover.

You have to hand it to Jon Favreau and his team, they really found a way to make a Star Wars series without having to follow the schedule of the main actor, and allowing them to shoot multiple episodes at once.

Watch out for the new trailer for The Mandalorian 3 tonight. Hopefully by then we’ll also get a premiere date for Disney+.

Talking to Extraordinerd (via @NaughtyDogInfo), Mazin reveals:

“In reality, if the fungus did spread that way through spores, everybody would be wearing masks all the time, because spores don’t sit in one spot; they go everywhere. And honestly, if cordyceps did spread by spores, in reality I think everybody would be infected within a few hours—We can’t run away from air.”

In an interview with Extraordinerd, Craig Mazin revealed why the decision to remove spores from HBO's The Last of Us was made. pic.twitter.com/66NkjcqDUj

— Naughty Dog Info (@NaughtyDogInfo) January 9, 2023

Though the Last of Us show is going to have less gasmasks than the game, Mazin does say that the new way of infection is considered scarier by the people making the show. He continues:

“So we wanted to come up with a different vector of infection; a different way that the infection passed through, and again, talking to scientists, we came up with a slightly different method that honors the game, feels very similar to the game, and in really important ways—biting matters, but it’s not incompatible with the way fungi actually work; and in truth I think we thought it was actually scarier.”

For now, there are those who already think the change is terrible, but there are some that agree that the change is more scientifically accurate when it comes to the nature of the cordyceps.

If anything, Mazin is an amazing writer, and I can’t wait to see what he and original game director Neil Druckmann have brought to the show.

Catch The Last of Us when it premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 16.

During an appearance at CCXP (via @NaughtyDogInfo), showrunner Craig Mazin confirmed that Lynskey’s character is actually a leader of the ‘Hunters.’

In the game, the Hunters are a group of humans that regularly ambush travellers (who they call ‘tourists’) to loot them for their valuables and supplies. They are usually well-armed and violent, and are a constant threat in the world of TLOU.

Though we have the general idea of the Hunters in the game, Mazin says there are some changes with the group when we meet them in the show. No doubt, these will come with the character of Lynskey who could have some kind of connection with Joel. After all, Joel and Tommy had been members of a Hunter group before they decided to go their separate ways—explaining why Joel is so adept at torturing people for information.

Maybe we can have some insight on what Joel used to do for them. The faction is also constantly at odds with the Fireflies, so maybe we can figure out more about them in the series since the game is generally mysterious about the group.

For now, fans wait for the premiere of The Last of Us on HBO Max this coming Jan. 16.