HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 Was Fully Mapped Out Before Strikes
Craig Mazin has made a lot of progress on The Last of Us Season 2.
The first season of HBO's The Last of Us released earlier this year, and left viewers ready and eager for more. Like most TV shows and movies, production on Season 2 has been put on hold following the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strike. It seems that prior to the strike's beginning, showrunner Craig Mazin mapped out all of the show's new season, while also writing the script for the first episode. In an appearance on Entertainment Weekly's The Awardist podcast, Mazin noted how he got the script in just before the wire.
"We were able to map out all of season 2," Mazin said on The Awardist. "And I also wrote and submitted the script for the first episode and sent it in [to HBO] around 10:30 or 10:40 p.m. right before the midnight [makes a "kajoomph" sound] and the strike began."
When will The Last of Us Season 2 release?
Mazin went on to note that, by getting The Last of Us Season 2 mapped out, and the first script finished ahead of time, the show would be able to keep "below-the-line crew members" employed and working through the strike. Unfortunately, Mazin does not believe that the new season will begin filming in the window that was originally planned. That means a release window for a new season will not be announced until after the strike comes to an end. While Mazin is clearly bothered by the delay, he was quick to note his support for the strike.
"To the extent that we can keep anybody below the line working, that's fantastic," Mazin told The Awardist. "I think it's becoming essentially a near certainty that we won't be able to start [filming] when we were hoping to start, which is upsetting. We are all raring to go. This is what we are born to do. This is how we not only choose to live our lives, but I believe [how we] are compelled to live our lives. Otherwise, why the hell would we do this insane job? I can assure you it's not for money."
What will The Last of Us Season 2 cover?
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month, Mazin reiterated that The Last of Us Season 2 will cover some of the events from the PlayStation 4 game The Last of Us Part II, though the "story does not fit into one season." Now that Mazin has revealed that he has all of Season 2 mapped out, it's clear he has some kind of break point in mind, and where Season 3 might pick things up.
In that same interview, Mazin also noted that "things were in process" for the casting of Abby. Abby is one of the most important characters in The Last of Us Part II, so she'll be a critical character in the new season. However, Mazin stated that "the strike stopped us in our tracks."
Are you looking forward to the next season of The Last of Us? Are you surprised that so much progress happened before the strike? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!