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The Last of Us HBO series won’t tell any stories outside the games

The Last of Us has two planned seasons - with each one covering one game - say the showrunners. They will not be doing a Game of Thrones.

The Last of Us

The Last of Us is HBO’s most highly-anticipated TV series of the year – and may be the most anticipated on any streaming service or channel. The showrunners are under enormous pressure to get it right, and how faithful it is to the games is going to be a major sticking point for the fans.

In a new interview in The Hollywood Reporter with showrunner Craig Mazin and The Last of Us game designer Neil Druckmann, they have given more detail on how much of the game will be in the horror series, and if there are changes. “Overall the series is highly faithful to the game, with much of the dialogue intact and many familiar settings rendered precisely into reality.”

“But, the show also doesn’t stay embedded in its ruinous present. The narrative spends a fair amount of time flashing back to events surrounding the initial outbreak — the ‘world is falling apart’ rollercoaster that most post-apocalyptic shows skip quickly past.”

The article says that fans should; “expect the debut season to cover the entirety of the first Last of Us game. Druckmann and Mazin hint — but don’t outright say — that the second season will cover the table-flipping narrative of Naughty Dog’s bold Part II sequel. Part II cannot be described without spoilers, but it caused such an uproar that Druckmann received death threats.”

“We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games,” Druckmann says. “We won’t run into the same issue as Game of Thrones.”

Given the huge financial and time investment that HBO has made, it’s somewhat surprising to hear that The Last of Us will only have two seasons. While we wait for the first season to drop, check out our guide to the best zombie movies. You can also read our The Last of US TV series review, and we have an article breaking down The Last of Us cast where you can learn who plays your favourite The Last of US characters.