The Last of Us Creators Have Made a Pact to Get Matching Tattoos

Somewhere out there are Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, waiting to get matching tattoos; that is, of course, iff they haven’t gotten them already. On an episode of The Last of Us podcast, Mazin revealed he and Druckmann came up with a deal: should the show they were filming at the time prove fruitful, they’d each get a tattoo of Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) switchblade. Fruitful is now a bit of an understatement given the series is one of the most-watched shows in the land, having already been renewed for a second season by HBO.

“Neil and I made a deal early on in prep,” Mazin explained on the podcast, “and the deal was if the show does well, and we sort of loosely defined ‘does well,’ then he and I will both get a tattoo of Ellie’s switchblade.”

According to the writer, the idea came when he and Druckmann were out having dinner and one of the waiter’s showed off their own ink once they found out which show the writers were with.

“When we were scouting Edmonton for episode 2, we went to, like, a random restaurant,” Mazin added. “And there’s a bunch of us there, and the waitress comes over and is like, ‘Oh, what are you guys here for?’ We’re like, ‘Oh, we’re shooting a TV show.’ She’s like, ‘What show?’ ‘The Last of Us.’ ‘Oh my God, I love that game!’ She pulls her sleeve, and she has a tattoo that says, ‘endure and survive.’”

What is The Last of Us Season 2 going to be about?

While it has yet to be seen just how far the first season will get in the story first laid out by the video games, executives at Sony TV, the production house behind the series, are already looking forward to what Mazin and Druckmann come up with next.

“IP and expanding universes continue to be a big part of our business for sure, and I think a big part of everyone’s business. I agree with you the PlayStation IP has become more and more important — The Last of Us was just renewed for season two — and we have a really close relationship with PlayStation and their creatives,” Katherine Pope said earlier this year. “The way I view all of the IP here, whether it’s Sony Music, PlayStation, legacy IP from either TV or film, it’s all making Sony as a whole stronger. So there’s a real focus, from Tokyo, through Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony [Vinciquerra], through [Sony Pictures’ Chairman of Global TV Studios] Ravi [Ahuja]. It’s all about working on the internal levers that we have here to increase our standing in the entertainment community overall. There’s been great cooperation that I’ve been really impressed with I’m happy to take advantage of and be a part of.”

For more Last of Us content, check out ComicBook and Entertainment Tonight’s new podcast: The Last of Pods. The podcast will include breakdowns of each episode, interviews with special guests from the show, and more. The Last of Us airs on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. Eastern every Sunday with The Last of Pods debuting immediately following each show.