The first season of HBO’s “The Last of Us” adaptation was a massive success. It quickly became one of the buzziest shows on TV due to the emotional nature of the story and Pedro Pascal’s impressive performance as Joel.
The first season is basically a one-for-one adaptation of the first video game, which is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed video games ever made. The second season had a much tougher task. “The Last of Us Part II” is very polarizing due to some of the story choices.
This led to the second season getting a much more tepid reception. However, many critics didn’t like the changes that Season 2 made from the game. Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann was heavily involved in the writing for the first two seasons and even directed two episodes. There were rumors that he left the series after Season 2, and he’s finally addressed them.
Druckmann Discusses ‘The Last of Us’ Season 3
Season 2 of “The Last of Us” only told half of the story of “Part II,” so Druckmann’s fingerprints will be all over the third season. However, he did confirm in an interview with Gene Park of The Washington Post that he has, in fact, left the HBO series.
“I wasn’t involved in shaping this season’s creative direction, and Naughty Dog did not have a creative role in the direction of this season. So I can’t personally speak to how production is progressing,” Druckmann told The Washington Post. “It’s important for us to note that as the creator of the games, Naughty Dog is still the steward of this IP and even though this might be the end of this adaptation, we’re not done with The Last of Us. There’s a couple projects in the works that, when the time is right, I’m very excited to talk about.”
There could be any number of reasons why Druckmann has left the project. He is deep in production on Naughty Dog’s new game “Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.” As the head of the studio, that requires most of his focus. At the same time, it’s notable that he’s not staying involved in the series in any capacity. He has been very protective of “The Last of Us” IP.
Season 3 Faces Uphill Battle
Season 3 of “The Last of Us” has got some major problems ahead. Spoilers for Seasons 1 and 2 below…
As anybody who watched the show knows, Pascal’s Joel gets killed off in the second episode of Season 2. If the third season follows the structure of the game, it will follow the story of Joel’s killer, Abby. This works in a game, as you’re forced to empathize with a character you previously hated by directly having to play with them.
That’s going to be much harder to pull off in a TV show. Plus, the structure of the show is much different than the game. The back half of Season 2 wasn’t well liked by fans, so it’s going to be very difficult for them to get that audience back since the story only gets more challenging from here.
