The Last of Us showrunner thought Season 1’s ending would anger a lot of fans

The HBO adaptation of the Naughty Dog video game The Last of Us successfully completed its first season, and it was a roaring success. It broke several records on its premiere, when the season finale aired, surpassing the likes of House of The Dragon in terms of overall viewership. The ending was quite controversial, and co-showrunner Craig Mazin feared fans might not like it.

How was The Last of Us ending different than the game?

In a recent interview with GQ, Mazin talked about the certain changes they made in the final scene of the finale, “The change was really more something that Ali Abbasi, our director, had been playing around with. He had this thought of just playing out this slightly longer, sadder version where Ellie says, ‘okay’, and then she turns and walks away. And Joel looks after her. We see the two of them walking, not really together but apart, down towards Jackson. It lingers and then fades. There was something beautiful about it.”

Why did Craig Mazin think fans might hate The Last of Us Season 1 ending?

Mazin was really nervous the night the finale aired. He continued, “Everybody was like ‘what do we do?’ And there was that meta-discussion of, are the people that played the game going to be more annoyed that they didn’t get it just the way it’s supposed to be, or are they gonna be more annoyed that they only got what they had before? And then how will everybody else feel? In the end, there’s something very specific about ending on that close-up of Ellie.”

“Not knowing what comes next. Not knowing what she does. Does she walk away from him, does she walk with him, how does she feel? That moment gets suspended permanently. As we’re recording this, we haven’t aired it yet and we don’t know what the reception is going to be. I think people will get angry!”

When does The Last of Us Season 2 begin filming?

In a recent interview with Collider, Pascal said, “In the year 2023? Oh, what season are we in now? We’re getting into spring? Yes, there is a chance. Yes.” The first season of The Last of Us took around 18 months to film. So, looking at the time gap, there’s a high probability that the second season won’t be here until 2025.