Summary
The Last of Usis rapidly returning to viewers' screens this April. HBO has been steadily building hype for its second season. Now, before fans have even had a chance to watch the first few episodes, the studio has just secured the show’s long-term future.
The Last of Usis the top-dog of the video game adaptation scene in Hollywood at the moment, riding high after a critically acclaimed first season of television. Although other franchises, like Nintendo’sThe Super Mario Bros. Movie,can boast huge financial success as the most profitable film to ever be based on a video game.The Last of Uscontinues to raise the bar for creative standards when it comes to translating video games to the silver and small screen.Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmannhave excitedly discussed how fans are in for an even darker, bigger, and more heartbreaking season of dystopic TV, and it seems like their work will continue on with HBO’s full backing.
Varietyreports thatThe Last of Ushas just been renewed for a Season 3 ahead of its April release this Sunday. HBO seems to have unrivaled faith in the creative vision of this adaptation, and their beliefs are not misplaced. Recently,Rotten Tomatoes released its overall critical score for Season 2, which currently sits at 92%. The overwhelming majority of critics have once again lauded this dramatic and groundbreaking project, particularly emphasizing the continued titanic performances of Pedro Pascal (Joel Miller) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie Williams). Reviews have celebrated this sequel series' thrilling and cinematic atmosphere:
“The Last Of Us Season 2 continues to be one of the most GRIPPING & CINEMATIC video game adaptations ever made!” - Shahbaz Siddiqui (The Movie Podcast)
The Last of Us Season 3 is officially happening
Long-time fans of the video game series and new audiences have absolutely fallen in love with the HBO adaptation ever since its release in 2023. Mazin and Druckmann successfully portrayed the bittersweet, gruesome, and thrilling tones of its source material. With critical reviews being so high for Season 2, it comes as a surprise to absolutely no one that a third season has been commissioned.
This is one of HBO’s most popular shows sinceGame of Thrones. It’s not yet reaching the heights ofGeorge R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, which had an average viewership of 44.2 million over its final season across all platforms. However, it is starting to get there.The Last of UsSeason 1 across HBO Max and other broadcasters, premiered to 4.7 million viewers on its first day, which was the second largest for HBO since 2010. It raked in 40 million views in total within two months of its release. It’s no wonder that HBO wants to renew this show for a third season as soon as possible, because it’s becoming their next big commercial, action-packed juggernaut. Battle scenes fromThe Last of Us’Season 2 trailer feature more cordyceps-riddled zombies than ever, something which is actually very reminiscent ofGame of Thrones’final season.
For this new HBO darling, the studio doesn’t even have to particularly rely on Season 2’s success with audiences. Obviously, if the sequel series fails to gain traction with viewers, figures slump, and an overwhelming number of fans express their displeasure, the future of the show may be in doubt. But that possibility is so slim, that this decision is nothing short of completely obvious. To pretend that this is anything but inevitable is ludicrous, asMazin and Druckmann have already spelled outvery specifically thatThe Last of Us Part II’sstory was always going to be an expansive, multi-season story arc. To be honest, the confirmation of Season 3’s production was probably well-known by many in HBO’s upper management for a while now, and this announcement is most likely just another clever advertising tactic to increase Season 2’s early viewership.
Understandably, fans will want to have their say over the quality of Season 2 when it releases later this week on April 13th. Some fears have been floating around that it could bein danger of repeating some ofThe Last of UsPart II’spitfalls. But, regardless of whether those speculations come to pass,The Last of Uswill continue to grace the small screen for years to come.
