Last year, HBO’s The Last Of Us premiered to massive critical acclaim, seemingly smashing through the glass ceiling of poorly-received video game adaptations that have plagued Hollywood for decades. Now, as The Last Of Us marches towards a forthcoming season 2, the hurdles are higher than ever, due to the complexities and deeply nuanced layers of the second game. If The Last Of Us wishes to continue being a success, they can’t shy away from the depictions of violence, suffering, and moral ambiguity required to tell the story of The Last Of Us Season 2.

News Of The Adaptation Wasn’t Immediately Embraced

As someone who played both Last Of Us games at launch, and immediately loved both of them, I had massive reservations about the existence of a live action adaptation when it was first announced. Even as the Hollywood rumor mill confirmed terrific casting and an excellent team of behind-the-scenes professionals such as showrunner Craig Mazin, I bit my tongue, and maintained cautious optimism.

When the first season concluded, I jumped for joy, because I imagined the team behind The Last Of Us wouldn’t dare continue with a season 2, as the second game is far too graphic for TV, even by HBO standards.

Adapting Part 2 Is A Huge Challenge

I won’t spoil much of anything for the game if you aren’t familiar, but suffice is to say that the second installment in the PlayStation exclusive series includes killing dogs, stabbing pregnant women, and graphic instances of torture and sexual assault. If the team behind The Last Of Us season 2 plan to adapt the game faithfully, they certainly have their work cut out for them.

Don’t Make Game Of Thrones’ Mistakes

For some viewers, this may be an indication that the right move for The Last Of Us season 2 would be to adjust the ending to better suit the structure of episodic television, reducing some of the more horrific elements of the revenge narrative. But any move to do that would simply cheapen the story, as the entire plot centers around violence, revenge, and generational trauma.

The duo behind Game of Thrones famously cut corners when adapting the final seasons of their deeply-violent and disturbing series, and they were much worse off for it.

Don’t Go Off Script

The Last Of Us Part 2 is also a much larger game than the first, with a much longer storyline, so there has been some speculation that the producers will split the narrative into multiple seasons.

While this would be a perfectly acceptable way to properly tell the story, I think we can all agree that HBO should stop at the bittersweet conclusion of the second game, and not dare to go off-script with any new narrative paths. Still, if The Last Of Us season 2 is anything like the first, fans can rest assured that the project is in good hands.

It’s Difficult To Imagine

I just personally cannot imagine how the series could possibly depict the golfing scene, or the drowning scene, or the movie theater scene. Fans of the second game will know what I mean by that, and show-only fans should be sure not to Google a single word about it. The Last Of Us season 2 is apparently in the process of shooting right now, though the series isn’t expected to return with new episodes until mid 2025.