The Last of Us reached an epic finale with episode 9. The show was renewed for another season after the first few episodes were out and after the finale rumors spur about the upcoming seasons.
As the show’s second season is under development uncertainty about casting surrounds the show. Fans are speculating if the original cast will be retained or will major characters be re-cast. Theories about the plot, future characters, and timeline have also been doing the rounds on Twitter.
Neil Druckmann addresses casting rumors about Bella Ramsey
One of the major casting rumors that struck the internet was Bella Ramsey being replaced by a more mature and older Ellie. The show’s producer Neil Druckmann addressed this rumor in a press release,
“When we made the game, I felt we were incredibly lucky. It was like lightning in the bottle that we found Ashley Johnson. I can’t imagine that version of Ellie being anybody else. And then somehow we got lightning in the bottle again with Bella.
He continued,
“We are extremely lucky to have Bella and the stuff you saw throughout this entire season. The only way we would ever, ever consider recasting Bella is if she said, ‘I don’t want to work with you guys anymore.’ Even then, I’m not sure we would grant her that. We might still force her to come back to Season 2.”
Neil Druckmann’s statement finally put all fears and uncertainty to rest. Ramsey might have started the show with a weak performance but soon the actress came on her own. As the show progressed Ramsey honed the character to perfection soon becoming a fan favorite.
The creators of the show addressed some rare criticism from fans
The series was a huge hit for HBO, surpassing legends like Succession and Game of Thrones. Although The Last of Us is a well-known game with a devoted following, it also became the first successful game adaptation.
The show received just one fan complaint after trending practically every Sunday, earning steady acclaim, and consistently growing in viewership. Many criticized the absence of zombies or infected creatures as The Last of Us approached its season finale. HBO’s game adaption does not give these creatures enough screen time for a program that is about them. The show’s creator responded to this by saying,
“Ultimately, we generally stressed the power of relationships and trying to find significance within moments of action. And so there may be less action than some people wanted because we couldn’t necessarily find significance for quite a bit of it, or [there was] concern that it would be repetitive.”
He continued,
“After all, you’re not playing it, you’re watching it. And although a lot of people do like to watch gameplay, it needs to be a little more focused and purposeful when we’re putting it on TV.”
The Last of Us season two might begin filming towards the end of 2023, we can rule out the possibility of season two releasing in 2023 anytime. The show might release in 2024 or 2025 given when the filming begins, and the scale of production will most definitely be larger this season. So we can expect a bigger, more violent season weaved together with human relations, survival, and love.
The Last of Us is streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Twitter
