HBO’s upcoming TV series adaptation of the acclaimed video game “The Last of Us” could well be one and done as the creators involved make it very clear they have no plans to stretch the story beyond the games.
In a new interview with THR, game creator Neil Druckmann and his fellow HBO series co-creator Craig Mazin say there are no plans on this becoming a franchise or going beyond the narrative they’ve told in the two games released.
Druckmann says: “We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games. We won’t run into the same issue as ‘Game of Thrones’ since ‘Part II’ doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.”
Mazin adds: “I don’t have any interest in a spinning-plates-go-on-forever show. When it becomes a perpetual motion machine, it just can’t help but get kind of…stupid. Endings mean everything to me.”
The upcoming nine-episode series will cover the entirety of the first game in its run, including some elements that weren’t in the game such as the third episode that will expand upon the Bill-Frank relationship.
Should a second season happen, the pair reportedly hint (but don’t straight out say) it would adapt the divisive and highly ambitious “The Last of Us Part II”, which shook up the narrative so much it saw Druckmann receiving death threats.
That game also ends fairly definitively. Whilst there have been rumors of a ‘Part III’ game being in development, it’s years away from happening if at all, and could go in any direction after the events of the second game. A multiplayer title dubbed ‘Factions’ is on the way this year and fresh concept art from it can be seen below.
Naughty Dog has just unveiled a second concept art of The Last of Us Factions ! 🎮 pic.twitter.com/3S8b1l5nGL
— PlayStation Studios Fans (@PSFans_WW) January 4, 2023
