‘The Last Of Us’ creator explains how season two will differ from game: “It’s more about the drama”

5 February, 2025

Pedro Pascal in 'The Last Of Us' season two.

The Last Of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann has explained how season two of the hit HBO adaptation will differ from the video game.

READ MORE: ‘The Last Of Us’ review: an apocalyptically good video game port

The first season of The Last Of Us followed the main narrative beats of the original game but still made several changes including reworking fan-favourite characters Bill and Frank and removing a lot of the encounters with Clickers.

The second season of HBO’s The Last Of Us will take heavy influence from the Part Two video game, with new character Abby playing a central role in the storyline. However some fans have been questioning the casting of Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.

“We would’ve struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role,” Druckmann told Entertainment Weekly. “In the game, you have to play both characters [Ellie and Abby] and we need them to play differently. We needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of maneuver around, and Abby was meant to play more like Joel in that she’s almost like a brute in the way she can physically manhandle certain things.”

He went on to say “that doesn’t play as big of a role in this version of the story because there’s not as much violent action moment to moment. It’s more about the drama. I’m not saying there’s no action here. It’s just, again, different priorities and how you approach it.”

“We value performance over anything else,” Druckmann continued.  “We need someone to really capture the essence of those characters…. We don’t value as much, ‘Do they look exactly like the character with their eyebrows or their nose or their body?’ Whatever it is. It’s not nowhere on the priority list, but it’s below a bunch of other things that we consider.”

He added: “Kaitlyn has the spirit of the game in her. What I always loved about the idea was that you are going to continually be challenged as you were in season one. When you try to pick a hero, it’s tough because we’re human beings, we’re not heroes. For every heroic act, there’s someone who suffers on the other side who may see you reasonably as a villain. When you look at Kaitlyn, there’s just something in her eyes where, even no matter what she’s experiencing, you connect. It was important that we found somebody that we could connect to the way we connect to Bella (Ramsey, who plays Ellie).”

The Last Of Us season two is due for release in April 2025.  Ramsey has said fans can expect a “darker” season compared to the first. “It’s really a story about revenge, and a continuation from the first season about the dangers of unconditional love,” they explained.

In other news, Doja Cat joined the 25th anniversary celebrations for The Sims last night with a chaotic stream of the hit game.

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