The Last of Us Part 2

Craig Mazin, producer of HBOs excellent The Last of Us adaptation (and Chernobyl), has made it clear that anything is possible in Season 2, giving us all some food for thought. MAJOR SPOILERS for The Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2 to follow!

In an interview with Esquire (thanks, VGC), Maizin made some interesting comments that we might want to try and keep in mind when Season 2 comes out. He suggests nothing is off-limits in terms of the script and that co-writer and Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann is completely on board, stating: "This should be fairly obvious to anyone by now, but I don’t fear killing characters. But the important thing to note is that neither Neil nor I feel constrained by the source material."

Now, veterans of Naughty Dog's games know what happens at the start of The Last of Us: Part 2; that newcomer Abby brutally kills Joel after a chance encounter near the beginning of the game. It's shocking, obviously, and extremely violent. HBO is never one to shy away from uncomfortable scenes, but we can't help but wonder how the show will handle the notorious moment.

Pedro Pascal, who portrays Joel in the show but has not seen the scene in question (but does know what it entails), said that it "wouldn’t make sense to follow the first game so faithfully only to stray severely from the path" when asked what he thought the plan for his character was. Bella Ramsey, who portrays Ellie, says: "If [the scene] does take place in the show, I don’t know that I’m emotionally ready for it."

Like Pascal, we can't imagine the storyline deviating wildly, as much as we might want it to for the characters themselves. But it does sound like the fates of lesser characters could be altered if the writing duo feel it appropriate. What do you think of Maizin's comments? How closely do you think the HBO show will follow the game? Rewrite history in the comments section below.

[source esquire.com, via videogameschronicle.com]