It's going to be a long wait for The Last of Us Season 2 and the current strikes are threatening to delay the show's return even further. So will the second season of the HBO series have to be pushed back now that the SAGE-AFTRA actors are on strike? Co-showrunner Craig Mazin has shared an update on the live-action series adaptation and we might have some hopeful news.
The Last of Us Season 2 just narrowly missed the WGA writers' strike earlier in May as Craig Mazin confirmed that the script was submitted right before the deadline. However, fans are now concerned that the series will not get to begin filming right away due to the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike that began this month.
However, it looks like this won't be the case. Mazin recently spoke to Deadline where he pointed out that the real reason why they might face delay would be the weather.
"We had a little more flexibility I think than normal just because we had to wait a little bit longer anyway to line up production with the weather. A lot of what we do is outside, and so we had a schedule that weirdly hasn’t been immediately impacted," Mazin said.
While that sounds hopeful enough, he did admit that The Last of Us Season 2 could eventually be affected if the strikes continue.
"Wе can’t keep our original start dates forever obviously," Mazin said. "If these strikes go much longer we inevitably will have to push and that hurts us, and it hurts the audience, and it hurts HBO."
For now, it looks like The Last of Us Season 2 is still firmly set for a 2025 release. Although it is still unclear when the second season will begin production, Season 1 is enjoying some success, thanks to the show's 10 nominations in major categories at the 2023 Emmy Awards.
The Last of Us was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series while Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey got nods for Outstanding Actor and Actress in a Drama Series. Guest stars Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Keivonn Montreal Woodard, Anna Torv, Melanie Lynskey, and Storm Reid were nominated for Outstanding Guest Actor and Actress in a Drama Series.
