The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin has just revealed that the dystopian thriller could end sooner than fans thought.
Ahead of the show's season two debut, Mazin, who created the show alongside Neil Druckmann, expressed that they didn't intend to extend the post-apocalyptic horror beyond the existing source material.
"I am not going to go past the game," Mazin told The Hollywood Reporter.
"I'll just say that flat out. So if people are thinking, 'Oh, these guys are planning the old cash grab thing…'"
'I'm basically setting a decade of my rapidly dwindling life on fire to tell this story. The show is so hard to make. It has to have an end. So, I'm not going to go past."
The Last of Us franchise only has two video games. When asked about a third game, Druckmann, who also helped develop the games, said, "don't bet on there being more" (via Metro).
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Season one of The Last of Us series covers the entire first video game, and season three is already in development, meaning the second game will span at least two seasons.
Speaking on the possibility of more from the TV franchise, Mazin said:
"Who knows me, there might be a Dunk and Egg, The Last of Us show that happens that somebody does. But for me, the only question is, 'Is it going to be one more season or will it require two more?' If this can happen all in one more season, great. If we feel like it makes sense to break it into two, then we will do that."
Despite his commitment to wrapping up the show succinctly, Mazin previously told Entertainment Weekly it's "pretty likely that our story will extend past a season three".
"How far past? I can't say. And that's not to say that there are not other stories that could be told, but this story is the one that Neil and I are telling."
The Last of Us airs on HBO in the U.S., and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK. Season 2 is in production.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
