With thecasting of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2being complete and filming underway, the adaptation of Naughty Dog’s sequel to its hit 2013 cinematic post-apocalyptic horror game is officially in production. The scope ofThe Last of Us Part 2is sizeable compared to the original, featuring thehighest number of characters present in a Naughty Dog game, so how much of everything will make it in?
That’s a great question. There are lots of set pieces, character developments, new enemies and lore, non-linear time jumps, poignant moments, and new mechanics and collectibles, which means there’s lots of ground to cover for the showrunners. But the following must absolutely be included!
10A Rope Puzzle
One of the new forms of puzzles in The Last of Us Part 2 is using a cord or rope to either turn on a generator or scale to where you need to go. The rope physics are satisfyingly good and more detailed than Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End; even the animations of how it wraps around your hand or tugs at you when there’s nothing left to pull.
Some nod to this somewhere in an episode would be fun, perhaps similar to how the Season One finale still had Ellie searching for a ladder to bring down to Joel before the giraffe moment, with yellow paint marking where it would be dropped from. Sprinkling in little details like this would pay brilliant homage to the game.
9References To The Savage Starlight Comics TCG
Many video games nowadays create their own in-universe tabletop systems, like Gwent in The Witcher series and Orlog in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The Last of Us sequel has something similar in a collectible trading card game called The Society of Champions based on the comic book adventures of Dr. Daniela Star, for which there’s evenan outfit for Ellie based on her character.
The Savage Starlight comics have already been made canon in Season One of the show, where Ellie and Sam read an issue from the first game before the terrible tragedy that soon befell them. It’s excellent attention to detail if Ellie comes across these TCG collectibles throughout the season in the areas she visits, especially if the Neil Druckmann Doctor Uckmann Easter egg pops up.
8Stealth
Adapting The Last of Us Part 2 could be a little trickier than the first game sincethe stealth aspect was significantly expandedand is essential to the gameplay. Ellie or Abby going prone, military crawling through grass and shooting from there, or stealth killing with the brutal knife animations should definitely be showcased.
Getting across Seattle with WLF and Seraphite forces constantly lurking in vast open playgrounds for stealth would be interesting to see balanced with story beats in Season Two. The only note would be to leave out the dogs, as no one wants to see dogs getting murdered left and right, and seeing Ellie do that would only negatively impact her character with audiences.
7The Flashbacks Between The First Two Games
Creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann always love to take opportunities in the live-action show to build on the lore and backstories of the world and characters. Season One introduced Ellie’s mom and how she was born, provided a glimpse into the origin of Cordyceps in Indonesia, and delivered one of the most moving episodes highlighting Bill and Frank’s undying love.
The Last of Us Part 2 has plenty of tender moments that fill in the gaps between the first two games, which aresweet emotional breathers from all the combat, and Season Two should not only use some of the flashbacks but continue creating some of its own to expand on the story and lore.
6Highlighting The Guitar And Ellie And Dina’s Romance
Ellie’s growth into adulthood and the people in her life who help her grow are among the most significant takeaways from The Last of Us Part 2’s story. The two most precious things that still hold special meaning for Ellie amidst all the trauma are her guitar and her girlfriend, Dina.
The guitar is one of the last remaining memories Ellie can hold onto of Joel, as he started teaching her to play guitar, which allowed them to connect through music, and Ellie continues playing it to honor Joel.The romance between Ellie and Dinaand how their relationship unfolds through the events of The Last of Us Part 2 must have a spotlight, no question.
5More Infected Enemy Variety, Including The Rat King
The Last of Us remains one of the most faithful and accurate video game live-action adaptations ever made, but one place where it faltered was the infected action. There was an amazing climax in the fifth episode with the first appearance of the bloater and an unexpected child clicker, as well as the museum clickers and the Left Behind episode, but that’s about as far as it went.
The sequel game offers even more Cordyceps enemy varietyin addition to the iconic ones from the first, introducing shamblers and the Rat King on top of bloaters, stalkers, clickers, and runners. Stalkers take center stage and are far creepier than in the first game, and shamblers and the Rat King would make compellingly grotesque live-action designs.
4Expanding On The “Feel Her Love” Murals And Seraphite Lore
If the writing and story direction in the second season is anything like the first, this will be right up the creators' alley. Season One included an entirely new enemy faction of the Kansas City Resistance led by the ruthless Kathleen Coghlan, played by Melanie Lynskey, that was incorporated into Sam and Henry’s story. Much the same can be done with Part 2’s Seraphites.
The environmental storytelling in The Last of Us Part 2 is rich and filled with graffiti and messages alluding to the deceased leader of the Seraphites, which could be further elaborated in a backstory episode of the insidious religious cult’s founding and history. There’s already plenty of buzz and speculation that Catherine O’Hara’s casting may be for the Seraphite’s Prophet.
3Breaking Ellie And Abby’s Stories Into Separate Episodes
Naturally, Season Two should split Ellie and Abby’s story into separate episodes, just like how the game is structured, for the character development to be as sharp and effective. The core aesthetic of The Last of Us Part 2 is seeing things from both Ellie’s and Abby’s points of view to understand both perspectives.
Many similar shows exist with this kind of structure well-executed, most famously The Haunting of Hill House, The Fall of the House of Usher, and episodes of The Walking Dead, so it wouldn’t be too jarring to see this done on television. you may even see how the names of episodes can follow chapter names, like ‘Seattle Day 2’ and ‘Seattle Day 3.’
2Joel’s Death
We don’t know when it will happen in the pacing of Season Two, but Joel’s death must happen for the entire The Last of Us Part 2 storyline to work. This is the inciting incident that introduces Abby and her WLF friends, and the pivotal motivation for Ellie’s revenge on Abby and her team.
For those who’ve only watched the show and are unaware of the game, this may lead to the same backlash and shock as the game left many players with. However,the first season changed Bill’s fateand killed him off way earlier than in the game, so Pedro Pascal’s Joel might still be safe, and perhaps another character close to Joel or Ellie will be sacrificed.
Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have gone on record to say that Season Two “won’t be exactly like the game” and that “sometimes it will be different radically.”
1The Growing Rift Between Ellie And Joel
Joel and Ellie’s dynamic, however, shouldn’t be so radically different, as the first season follows the original game’s ending with Joel slaughtering all the Firefly doctors, nurses, soldiers, and even Marlene to rescue Ellie and keep her alive.Joel’s morally grey edgeand his lie to Ellie build tension, which puts a strain on their relationship that’s focal to the sequel.
The first game was all about building up the growing father-daughter bond between Joel and Ellie that allows him to heal after the loss of his own daughter at the start of the apocalypse, and the second game focuses on how certain choices lead to consequences that can be the undoing of it all.
