Controversial Sequel’s HBO Adaptation Expands Into Multiple Seasons

The Last Of Us HBO (Photo Credit – Instagram)

The Last of Us is an acclaimed video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog and published by PlayStation Studios. The series debuted on the PlayStation 3 in 2013, and ten years later, in 2023, the sport could be adapted into an HBO live-action series, created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.

Between the discharge of the primary game and the HBO series, Naughty Dog released a second game within the series, namely The Last of Us Part II. This controversial second game shall be adapted into future seasons of the HBO series, which covered your entire first game in the primary season. Read more to study Part II.

The Last of Us Part II made the jump to the PlayStation 4

The Last of Us Part II released in 2020 on the PlayStation 4, in the course of the tail-end of that console’s life-cycle. The primary game’s ending pretty conclusively ended the unique storyline with none major cliffhangers, sparking audience curiosity about what the sequel could be like.

Early trailer hinted at the sport being a revenge story involving Ellie, the co-lead from the primary game. Naughty Dog deliberately kept mum on the specifics of the plot, but all of the secrecy surrounding their marketing would amount to naught when several gameplay videos and key plot information was leaked to the web on April 2020. These leaks proved immensely controversial among the many fandom, and result in the harassment of each game developers and voice actors involved within the project.

Director Neil Druckmann admitted that he’d at all times meant for the story to be divisive, but was upset on the ripple effects and harassment attributable to the leaks. Controversially, The Last of Us Part II killed of its male lead, Joel Miller, within the opening hours of the sport, in consequence of his actions in the course of the last game’s ending. It’s his murder that Ellie sets out to avenge.

One other leaked detail that garnered controversy was the choice to separate the lead role between Ellie, in addition to Abby, who was none aside from Joel’s murderer. The sport’s decision to make players experience each side of the conflict generated considerable backlash.

Other controversies courted by The Last of Us Part II involved the working environment at Naughty Dog, which got here under scrutiny after investigative journalist Jason Schrier published an article on Kotaku reporting on the extensive working hours and crunch conditions faced by the team.

Even after the sport’s release, the controversy didn’t fully die down, and the sport has a divisive repute to at the present time, with its storytelling merits still hotly debated. Perhaps in a nod to how far more complicated this game’s storyline was, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have confirmed that the HBO adaptation will take multiple seasons to totally adapt Part II’s storyline, a stark departure from their approach during season 1. The casting for the show already shows a notable departure from the games, with Abby being played by Kaitlyn Dever, who lacks the muscular stature of her character’s video game counterpart.

The Last of Us season 2 is about to premiere in April 2025.

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