HBO’s ‘The Last Of Us’: franchise co-creator Neil Druckmann stepping away from season three
HBO‘s The Last Of Us adaptation has received a massive creative shake-up – find out more below.
Yesterday (July 2), Neil Druckmann – Naughty Dog boss, co-creator of The Last Of Us games, director and co-writer on of the HBO series – announced that he would be stepping away from season three of the TV show.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last Of Us on HBO. With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative,” he wrote in a statement.
He reflected on his work on the HBO series, including directing several episodes and writing: “Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s been an honour to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I’m deeply thankful for the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last Of Us Part I and the continued adaptation of The Last Of Us Part II.”
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 2, 2025
Following his announcement, Halley Gross – who co-wrote The Last Of Us Part II and was a writer and executive producer on the HBO series also announced that she would be stepping back from her “day-to-day work” on the series. “I have some truly rad projects ahead that I can’t wait to share, but for now, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who brought Ellie and Joel’s world to life with such care.”
Creative control for the Last Of Us season three – which will explore the story told in the second half of the Last Of Us Part II game – will now rest solely with Craig Mazin – the writers room will include Mazin, a Naughty Dog staff and one other writer.
Mazin has issued his own statement, per Deadline: “It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO. I couldn’t have asked for a more generous creative partner. As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil’s work in video games, I’m beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I’ll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect. We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of The Last Of Us Part II to us, and we’re just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in.”
Season three is set to focus on the Abby character, though Mazin has teased that Joel (Pedro Pascal) will return: “We haven’t even seen the last of a lot of people who are currently dead in the story.”
Additionally, Mazin has been vocal of the show needing four seasons in total to wrap up, meaning an additional collection of episodes will be in the works following season three. However, it’s not clear what season four will entail, as season three will seemingly complete the story told in the second game. A third game has not been announced.
In a four-star review of The Last Of Us season two, Nick Levine wrote for NME: “At its best, The Last Of Us is unsettling enough to make you question your own hypothetical moral code. When every day is about survival and making sense of post-apocalyptic chaos, does taking a life become easier, or somehow even harder? This show doesn’t just go deep narratively – it also cuts deep emotionally.”
‘The Last Of Us’ season two is available to watch in the UK on Sky Atlantic and NOW
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Surej Singh
NME
