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The Last of Us: Druckmann Confirms S02 Update; "Horror Nights" Clues?

The Last of Us S02 ready to go post-SAG-AFTRA/WGA strikes; possible clues at Universal Studios Orlando's "Halloween Horror Nights": Druckmann.

With September getting underway, fans of Neil Druckmann & Craig Mazin's Pedro Pascal (Joel) & Bella Ramsey (Bella)-starring The Last of Us have been getting quite a few updates on what's ahead with the second season. Following up on what Mazin had to share about how production is looking post-SAG-AFTRA & WGA strikes, Druckmann was able to confirm Mazin's surprisingly positive update – as well as the very interesting place where some Season 2 clues might be hanging out. "My job is really strange, I'm given feedback on this theme park thing, I'm working on the TV show, and I'm working on another game, so I'm just kind of jumping around on different projects," Druckmann shared with EW, with The Last of Us game series being included in this year's "Halloween Horror Nights" from Universal Studios Orlando.

With video game stars Troy Baker & Ashley Johnson supplying new dialogue for the walkthrough, attendees will encounter a number of locales not featured (at least, so far?) in the live-action adaptation – including the Pittsburgh Quarantine Zone, the Hotel Grand, subterranean tunnels, and more. But Druckmann teased that when it comes to getting a better sense of what's ahead with Season 2, "there's cool stuff in there" to get fans talking. As far as the second season and next chapter of the video game franchise, Druckmann added, "We've outlined all of season 2, and we're ready to go as soon as the strike ends. As far as the next game at Naughty Dog, I can't say anything," he says with a laugh. "My comms director over there will slaughter me."

In an interview with Variety from earlier in the summer, Mazin discussed how a 2025 debut for the second season was still workable (but less & less so the longer the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes continue), confirmed that Season 3 will happen (as long as the viewers keep watching), and addressed the possibility of familiar faces returning in flashbacks (and why they have no plans to mess with that "beautiful" episode).

"The Last of Us" Could Still Make Its 2025 Delivery Date – For Now: "We had a little more flexibility, I think, than normally just because we had to wait a little bit longer any way to line up production with the weather. A lot of what we do is outside, and so we had a schedule that weirdly hasn't been immediately impacted. But we're getting pretty close; we can't keep our original start dates forever, obviously. If these strikes go much longer, we inevitably will have to push, and that hurts us, and it hurts the audience, and it hurts HBO. We all, everybody wants to get back to work; I think everybody that's actually doing the work, including the network people who are with us on the ground, I think everybody just wants to get this solved. So fingers crossed."

"The Last of Us" Season 3 Will Happen As Long As Viewers Keep Watching: "It's going to be more than one season. There's more story, so this show will not end with Season 2 unless people don't watch it, and we'll get canceled. Barring that, we will be doing some things exactly the way they were in the game. We're going to do other things that are in the game, and we're gonna do some things that are in the game, but we're gonna do them differently in our own method. No matter if you have played the game or not. You will be surprised as the season unfolds. We have some interesting twists and turns."

Could Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid & Others Return via Flashbacks? "There's always a chance for everything. With us, you never know, and we obviously don't confine ourselves by timelines. People who are dead sometimes reappear, and sometimes we meet people that we didn't even know, and then we find out that they are somebody."

Mazin on Why There Won't Be Another Bill (Nick Offerman) & Frank (Murray Bartlett) Episode: "What you won't see is, for instance, another very special episode with Bill and Frank; we aren't going to milk it. When we do something that we think is beautiful, we let it be as it is and find other beautiful things to do."

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