The Last of Us Season 2 Trailer Invokes Game Imagery
The biggest test for HBO’s adaptation of the video game franchise The Last of Us is about to go through its biggest test. Late last night, the cable channel and streamer (with a new name I’m not calling it) released a trailer for The Last of Us season 2, the next installment of the series. Not much is known about The Last of Us season 2, and the trailer doesn’t have any big reveals that I could detect (having not played the games), but the season is clearly based on The Last of Us Part II, with the game’s writer and director and the series’ showrunner, Neil Druckmann, and Druckmann’s co-showrunner, Craig Mazin, expecting to stretch the game’s story over seasons 2 and 3, and perhaps even 4 depending on how audiences respond to it. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return as the series’ two protagonists, Joel Miller and Ellie Williams, along with Diego Luna and Rutina Wesley; they’ll be joined by Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced, and Catherine O’Hara for the second season. The Last of Us season 2 premieres on HBO in April, and you can see the trailer below:
The big question going into The Last of Us season 2 will be how hard a sell it is to the show’s audience. The Last of Us Part II was, to say the least, controversial among fans of the first game despite its universal critical acclaim, with some questionable narrative choices ruining the characters and ongoing story for many. And the show appears to be following the game, with some of the shots in that trailer taken directly from it, like the scene of Abby dancing with another girl. (If you thought they’d change that, you need your head examined.) The Last of Us season 2’s success may depend on the makeup of the show’s audience. If it’s mostly gamers, they may be in trouble, with a significant number of Last of Us fans likely not wanting to relive the stuff from The Last of Us Part II they hated. On the other hand, if it’s mostly people who’ve never played the games and enjoyed the show on its own merits, they’ll almost certainly return for more, particularly as Pedro Pascal is featured in the trailer, and they don’t know what’s coming. I’ll bet they save that moment for the second season finale, and that will probably be the show’s make-or-break moment. If viewers are intrigued enough by it to keep watching and see how things shake out, they’re good; if they’re as pissed as many gamers were and drop it, the show is in trouble.
Outside of the video games, The Last of Us season 2 has some things going for it, not the least of which is the cast. Kaitlyn Dever is a terrific actress whom I loved on Justified, where she played the orphaned daughter of a marijuana dealer whom Raylan took special interest in protecting. (She was just a kid at the time and held her own with actors like Timothy Olyphant and Margot Martindale; impressive.) However, she’s playing the hated Abby, and while I’m sure she’ll be great, it may not do a lot to endear her to a wider audience, and certainly not gamers. Oddly, Devers bears a striking resemblance to Ellie as depicted in the games, which is funny considering how many felt that Bella Ramsey didn’t have the right look for Ellie. And Catherine O’Hara is in it, too, which is a plus no matter who she plays. One option would have been for the showrunners and producers to sell this as an alternate version of The Last of Us Part II to try to draw in dissatisfied fans who’d like a new opportunity to see a preferable sequel to The Last of Us, but it doesn’t sound like they’re going that way with it. We’ll see if that ends up being the smart move when all is said and done.
Let us know what you think of the trailer for The Last of Us season 2 in the comments!
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