HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us has stayed largely faithful to the source material for the first two seasons, and the first season, in particular, was praised for managing to retain the tone and characterization from the games. While this is no doubt thanks to showrunner Craig Mazin actually being a fan of The Last of Us, it’s worth pointing out that game creator and director Neil Druckmann was also heavily involved with Season 1, and to a smaller extent in Season 2.
Unfortunately, it looks like Season 2 will mark the end of Druckmann’s involvement with the HBO adaptation, as Naughty Dog has put out a statement from him to announce that Druckmann will be stepping away to focus on other projects.
Druckmann stated that this is the “right time for [him] to transition [his] complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing [their] exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.” Druckmann went on to say that working on the HBO adaptation with Mazin has been a career highlight for him and expresses his appreciation for the opportunity to help produce and direct the show. It’s also worth mentioning that Druckmann states that no “meaningful work” has started for Season 3 just yet, which means the project is still in early days. This is in line with our previous report that production on The Last of Us Season 3 might only begin in 2026, according to a statement from Isabela Merced, who plays Dina in the show.
In addition to that, Halley Gross, who co-wrote The Last of Us Part II alongside Druckmann, also announced on Instagram that she’d be stepping away from the HBO project. Gross helped to flesh out Ellie and Dina’s relationship in Part II, and also served as executive producer and writer on the show.
Finally, Mazin also put out a statement of his own via Deadline:
It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO. I couldn’t have asked for a more generous creative partner. As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil’s work in video games, I’m beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I’ll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect.
Deadline
We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of The Last of Us Part II to us, and we’re just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in.
My reaction to this, as you might expect if you’ve followed any of our The Last of Us coverage, is one of dread. I was not a fan of Season 2 and its weird decisions to move things around and change up the flow of events from the games. In particular, Season 2 felt like character assassination for Ellie, and it says a lot that the best episode of Season 2 was the one directed by Druckmann himself. With Druckmann stepping away from the show and Season 3 still a couple years away, any hope I had for it getting back on the right track is quickly dwindling. I’m still excited to see Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby get her time in the spotlight, but who knows what’s gonna happen after that?
The Last of Us is now available for streaming on HBO Max.
