WithThe Last of UsSeason 2officially in the books, all eyes are on how HBO plans to tackle the second half ofThe Last of Us: Part II.The answer is clearer now:Craig Mazinis moving forward as the show’s lone writer after co-creatorNeil Druckmannand co-writerHalley Grossstepped awayto focus on a new game at Naughty Dog. Mazin recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about what this shift means for Season 3, and he sounded surprisingly energized.
“This is kind of my favorite time. It’s very quiet. It’s just sitting here with my wonderful ergonomic keyboard and clacking away. The pages are happening, and I get to be a monk for a while, which I love, and I just write. It’s the purest form of what I do. And then in just a couple of months or so, that happy time will start to be less quiet because we begin a very long prep period while I’m still writing, and then we begin to shoot while I’m still writing.”
While Druckmann’s exit may sound seismic — after all, he co-created the original games — Mazin reassured fans thatthe roadmap was already set.
“When we made season two,we really were thinking about what comes afterbecause you can’t really tell half of that story without thinking about what the whole story should be,” Mazin said. “So we really did get that work in. Neil’s always had a full-time job running Naughty Dog, so it’s always been me up in Canada [where the production is], and, ultimately, things are pretty much going to proceed as usual.”
What Can We Expect from ‘The Last of Us’ Season 3?
That means Season 3 will keep the same grounded, detail-oriented approach that’s defined the show so far, with minor things given the same treatment as the big moments, but Mazin also revealed one key detail: the new season will be longer. “Season three will be more on par with season one,” he confirmed. “More bang for the buck.”
Season 2, which covered the first half ofThe Last of Us: Part II,condensed its run into just seven episodes.That shorter countallowed the show to zoom in on a three-day stretch of chaos in Jackson, Wyoming, including an original attack sequence not found in the game, and the massive action set piece required prosthetics, stunts, and a VFX army led by Weta and DNEG. As Mazin put it, “It was hard to write, it was hard to plan, it was hard to shoot… but what we end up getting is pretty remarkable.”
Season 3 ofThe Last of Usdoes not yet have a release date, but with scripts actively underway, the wait for answers may not be as long as fans fear.
The Last Of Us
After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity’s last hope.
