The Last of Us showrunner hints at future beyond season two

The showrunner for hit HBO series The Last of Us has hinted at a future beyond season two, suggesting we should hopefully have plenty more to come.

The first series premiered earlier this year, following Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they travelled across a post-apocalyptic United States, after modern civilization is destroyed by a fungal virus.

It became an instant hit among fans, including those who felt loyal to the Naughty Dog video game the story was based on, meaning it wasn’t long before a second season was announced by HBO.

Producer Neil Druckmann, who was also the writer and creative director of the game, said he felt ‘humbled, honored and frankly overwhelmed’ that The Last of Us had been such a huge hit.

"The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations,” he said.

“Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog & PlayStation, thank you!”

HBO

Now Craig Mazin, who serves as showrunner and executive producer, has teased that the second instalment may well be the tip of the iceberg, saying they hope to be ‘around for a while’.

Speaking at a National Association of Broadcasters panel event in Las Vegas on Sunday (16 April), Mazin said there was ‘quite a bit of story to tell’.

“Our plan is to do it not just for one more season,” he explained.

“We should be around for a while.”

Mazin also confirmed season two is still in its script stage at the moment, but plans to start shooting in British Columbia soon.

While he wasn’t able to give much else away for the second series, Mazin and others from the show drilled down into what went into making the first season such a success, including visual effects, sound, cinematography and editing.

VFX supervisor Alex Wang said the aim of the production was to not rely too heavily on fully digital creation – instead using it to enhance scenes.

HBO

“The first question that we all ask is not what visual effects can do, but rather, what can we get in the frame and do practically?” Wang said during the hour-long event.

“The conversation starts there. What that means is a really tight collaboration among visual effects and the art department, prosthetics, stunts and visual effects.”

Supervising sound editor Michael J. Benavente also spoke about how they approached the clickers, having roped in voice actors Misty Lee and Phillip Kovats from the original game, to reprise their work.

Explaining how those who are infected by the virus 'are not monsters', Benavente said. “We went a little monster-y at the beginning and then we pulled back. These are humans who are infected and diseased.”