The Last of Us Star Teases That Part II's Storyline Was "Ever-Present" for Them in Season 1

The Last of Us has finally aired all of the episodes of its record-breaking first season, which you can watch on HBO Max, and it has already been renewed for a second season. Among the records it's broken is that it had one of the most viewed first seasons for an HBO pilot in recent years. Co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have revealed that the second game in the series, The Last of Us: Part II, will probably be stretched out through multiple seasons due to all of the events that take place. One of The Last of Us stars has kept the second game in the franchise on his mind. While speaking at SXSW (via Variety), Gabriel Luna has revealed that while filming the first season, the second season was heavy on his mind.

"Because I played the games back to back, it's one story in my mind. I prepped for it in that way," Luna revealed. "You never want to assume you're gonna get a Season 2, but considering it's probably the biggest show in the world and they renewed us for Season 2, it's probably good I have a head start thinking about it. The idea of everything that happens in 'Part II' was always ever-present in my mind. When working on the story we've told thus far, you gotta consider where you're going with all the peaks and valleys. You don't want play the end, but you certainly want to keep it in mind as you're rolling forward and building the character. There's a lot of peaks and there's some deep, deep valleys. As much as Tommy is an evolved person, and he's evolving, there's certainly a de-evolution that happens in 'Part II.' Which is probably the extent I can say about it."

Craig Mazin, the Emmy-winning creator of HBO's Chernobyl, produced The Last of Us alongside Druckmann, the creator behind the hit video game series. In an interview earlier this year, the writer said The Last of Us is the "greatest" video game story ever told. "It's an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games," Mazin said in an interview with Empire Magazine. "[Joel and Ellie] didn't shoot anything out of their eyeballs. They were just people. And that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games. The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I've been playing video games since 1977."

Joining Pascal (Joel) and Ramsey (Ellie) include Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence. Original game stars Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, having played the part of Ellie and Joel in both video games, are also set to appear.

All episodes of The Last of Us are now streaming on HBO Max. The show's first season is set to last nine episodes in total with new episodes rolling out on a weekly basis.

What do you think about Gabriel Luna's comments? Are you excited for The Last of Us season2?  Let us know in the comments below or by hitting up our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!