Jeffrey Wright’s Return to The Last of Us Universe Promises More Intense Moments in Season 2
The fans of The Last of Us You might start to get excited, as the wait for season 2 might be shorter than expected. After the huge Emmy Awards, Casey Bloys, CEO of HBO and Max Content, revealed in an interview with Deadline that the new season will premiere on first half of 2025ensuring that it will enter the time window of that year’s Emmy Awards. While he didn’t dare to provide a specific date, he did offer words of encouragement to followers of the adaptation of the acclaimed video game, indicating that creator Craig Mazin is doing a spectacular job.
A first look at season two
In a promotional video from HBO, fans were given a first look at what will be the second season The Last of Us. Based on the controversial but acclaimed sequel to the video game, The Last of Us – Part IIReleased by Naughty Dog in 2020, this preview showed Joel (played by Pedro Pascal) in a tense conversation with a new character played by Catherine O’Hara, where his decision to save Ellie (Bella Ramsey) was mentioned.
Additionally, we may see locations and characters that will be recognizable to players of the video game, such as Abby, played by Kathryn Dever, Dina, played by Isabela Merced, and the return of Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, leader of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF).
Jeffrey Wright Returns to the Video Game Universe
One of the most exciting moments for fans will be seeing Jeffrey Wright reprise his role in the video game as Isaacsomething similar to what Merle Dandridge did in season one when she returned as Marlene, leader of the Fireflies. This time around, Wright will physically play Isaac, who controls Seattle in the post-apocalyptic world, and whose clashes with the Seraphites will be crucial to this season’s narrative.
While it has not yet been confirmed whether other actors from the video game will appear in the series, it is worth mentioning that Laura Bailey, the actress who gave life to Abby in The Last of Us – Part IIShe had already had a small cameo in the first season finale, playing a Fireflies nurse.
The impact of hate on production
Despite The Last of Us – Part II was acclaimed and won the award Game of the yearits release was marred by controversy. Before the game reached players, key plot details were leaked, sparking a wave of criticism and threats aimed at the actors, especially Laura Baileywho has been heavily criticized for her portrayal of Abby Anderson. This same hatred seems to have influenced the production of the second season of the series, as Isabela Merced (Dina) revealed in a recent interview.
“There are people who really hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder: she is not real.”Merced said in reference to the attacks suffered by actress Kathryn Dever during the filming of the season. Because of this, Dever had to be protected by extra security measures during filming, a fact that reflects how the lines between fiction and reality sometimes become dangerously blurred.
It is interesting to see how the impact of The Last of Us He transcended his universe. Fede Álvarez, director of the new episode of Alientitled Alien: Romulusconfessed that a key subplot of The Last of Us – Part IIespecially the one involving Dina, was a direct inspiration for one of the characters she created for her film. In fact, it was this connection that led Isabela Merced to participate in both the film and the television series. The Last of Us.
Competition between video game adaptations
The success of The Last of Us has sparked a boom in video game adaptations into series format. At the last Emmy ceremony, while Shogun from Hulu and Tricks HBO’s The Walking Dead took home the awards for Best Drama and Best Comedy, respectively, other video game adaptations were also considered. Fall from Prime Video was mentioned as a contender in the Drama category and the second season of Arcanethe series based on League of Legends from Netflix, will arrive in November this year.
With the first season of The Last of Us available on the Max platform, fans can now prepare for what promises to be a season 2 full of emotion, tension and new characters, scheduled to premiere in 2025.