‘I think fans of the game will eat up’

Creative Director Neil Druckmann has worked on many original Naughty Dog games for the PlayStation brand and is now taking a massive leap from making video games to adapting them to live-action. The first season of the HBO version of The Last of Us was a tremendous success thanks to the combined efforts of Druckmann for providing on-set knowledge of the lore and showrunner Craig Mazin as they embarked on a new journey to give the story of Part 2 the same treatment through this format.

The gaming community was initially skeptical to see this beloved video game translated into a different format but Druckmann and Mazin proved them wrong. The live-action show allows the game director to explore certain themes and provide more context for character backstories that he couldn’t due to time constraints. Hopefully, this version will fare better than the original version.

Director Neil Druckmann Claims the Second Season of The Last of Us Will Surpass the Original Version

The source material is highly renowned because of its grounded storytelling, worldbuilding, and gameplay mechanics, and not all of these can be faithfully adapted into a television series. The Last of Us Part 2 was released four years ago, and it left a lasting impact on the gaming community with its emotional storyline, particularly the sudden and tragic death of Joel Miller at the hands of Abby Anderson. One way the HBO team can improve is by allowing the story to unfold more naturally and avoiding condensing the ambitious plot of the sequel into just one season.

Adaptations are not meant to be perfect one-for-one remakes of the source material. The first season had some creative inputs by the writers that were not present in the games, and according to director Neil Druckmann, the second season will continue this trend and provide more backstory to characters similar to how Bill and Frank were utilized in the first season.

What I’ve really enjoyed now is sometimes there are these people that have watched the show and then went and played the game and talked about, what a cool experience

Some characters were given a little less screen time in the sequel because the story moved too quickly. Perhaps the second season on HBO will stretch the narrative and divide the lengthy story across multiple seasons benefiting the original story greatly.

The game sometimes hints at stuff that we just don’t have time to get into the show that the game can, and vice versa. If you experience both, they’re both richer for it. And I love hearing that experience from people.

The official teaser trailer for The Last of Us Season 2 was released on The Last of Us Day which is among the top guesses for what Naughty Dog will unveil during the annual celebration. The teaser gave the gaming community their first look at Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby and Jeffrey Wright reprising his role as Isaac from the game. Druckmann hinted that some characters will be given more exposition and this is among the great benefits of a live-action adaptation that game developers couldn’t do properly.

I watch the show and then I play the game, and I really like how different the Bill sequence is, and that gave me this other insight into him.’ And there’s stuff in this season that I’m really excited about — stuff that we hinted at — one scene in particular comes to mind that I think fans of the game will eat up, because it really kind of tells you a lot of backstory of this important character that there wasn’t really a way for us to even do that in the game.

Adapting a game faithfully will likely result in the same outcome, it will be equally successful and there is a slim chance it will fail; however, respecting the source material too much will not allow the showrunners to get creative and stand apart. Craig Mazin knew the risks of adapting what is arguably one of the most popular and beloved video game franchises and intends to honor the source material by not deviating from the established path.

The only major change the HBO show made that the game did not was to kill Bill. In the original game, Frank has already passed and Bill went on to survive in his town alone while in the show, the pair died peacefully and went out on their terms inside their humble home. Perhaps the second season will have a change to this degree that will be executed properly.

The Last of Us Season 2 Will Not Cover the Entire Story of Part 2 and That Is Not a Bad Idea

Revenge is a recurring theme in the franchise, especially in Part 2. Audience members will feel what the gaming community felt years ago and fans will relive the moment in live-action. Hopefully, the show will have a better execution than the original version.

Character moments are powerful and memorable making Bill and Frank stand out from the show. These two characters barely had screen time in the game and Mazin saw the opportunity to tell a beautiful story. A handful of potential candidates could be given this honor in the second season.

HBO could adapt The Last of Us Part 2 better than the original version. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have one shot to retell this story without suffering the same fate as the original game.

Are you excited about The Last of Us Season 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!