The highly-anticipated debut of the series adaptation of “The Last of Us” finally arrives this month. The series hails from show creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) and is based on the wildly successful Naughty Dog video game that focuses on a post-apocalypse setting after a fungi virus outbreak has decimated the human population and has turned billions of humans into zombie-like “Clickers.”
During a chat with Consequence TV (via @TheLastofUsNews on Twitter), Mazin said they have plenty of unused material to make multiple seasons but was quick to point out they’re not aiming to make six or seven seasons.
“The amount of story that remains that we have not covered would be more than a season of television. So, yeah, assuming we can keep going forward, the idea would be to do more than just one more season.” He also alluded to having an internal endgame, “This isn’t the kind of show that is going to be seven seasons or six. I think every episode should deserve your eyeballs. I just want to make sure that if someone sits down to watch an ep, it’s awesome, every single time.”
READ MORE: ‘The Last Of Us’ Creator Says Studio Wanted The Adaptation To Be “Sexier” When Sam Raimi Was Attached To Direct
Druckmann also said the following while speaking with Collider earlier in the week, sort of reinforcing that they’re not going to drag this out longer than they have to:
“Yeah, I remember, early on, I asked Craig and HBO, “How many episodes does this season need to be” And the answer was, “As many as the story requires, and no more.” And likewise, that would be our approach for future seasons to say, “Okay, this will be as many seasons as required to reach that ending and no more.”
Previously, there had been indications that at least two seasons are on the table, but Mazin’s comments would suggest they could be aiming for four or five seasons if the desire is there. While there are two games to draw source material from, we won’t know how much they’ve tackled in the first season until folks have watched it and compared the timeline to the game.
While Season 1 does explore the events of the first game, Mazin says that “the amount of story that remains, that we have not covered, would be more than a season of television. So yeah, assuming we can keep going forward, the idea would be to do more than just one more season.” pic.twitter.com/pg9Hbrz68n— The Last of Us HBO – Jan 15 (@TheLastofUsNews) January 6, 2023