In July, the surprising announcement came that “The Last of Us” game creator Neil Druckmann was abruptly set to exit the HBO series adaptation of the game series.
Druckmann and Craig Mazin served as co-showrunners on the series throughout the first two seasons with both heavily involved. Mazin has a writing or co-writing credit on every episode of the series thus far bar the seventh episode of the first which Druckmann wrote solo.
Druckmann co-wrote the first season premiere and finale, while he, Halley Gross and Mazin co-wrote the sixth and seventh episodes of the show’s second season. Druckmann also directed the first season’s second episode and the second season’s sixth episode.
The announcement indicated Druckmann was ending his ‘creative involvement’ in order to “completely focus” on his game company Naughty Dog’s future projects – most notably “Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet”.
There are still lots of questions surrounding his exit, some believing it to be HBO stepping in following the more divisive reception the show’s second season received, but Druckmann has stayed quiet short of his official statements the other month.
Now, in a new interview with Variety, he broke his silence but still isn’t really giving anything away beyond saying he was overwhelmed with the workload:
“It was quite challenging to be as involved as a co-showrunner on Season 1 and Season 2, while running a [game] studio and working and directing and writing a game. I really appreciated at Naughty Dog how many people stepped up while I was gone working on Season 2.
Specifically, I spent quite a bit of effort on Episode 206 – prepping it, writing it, directing it. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do that again. So I felt it around that period when we’re wrapping up all the press and really about to get started with earnest in Season 3, that was a good time to reassess everything.”
He confirmed that the decision to step away came as “we were about to start the writers’ room for Season 3” and came to realise that “it felt like I could better serve all of my responsibilities if I stayed at a higher level.”
Instead, Mazin will continue on as sole showrunner, but Druckmann indicates he’ll still be offering advice and guidance:
“As much as I miss getting into the weeds and working on the effects shots and giving script notes and really getting into the details of it, I’m trying to just shepherd it. My hope for Season 3, and what I’d like to I think I can best contribute to it, is to make sure it’s as deeply faithful as Season 1 was.
Because I feel like that is the gold standard for this kind of adaptation, while enjoying all these beautiful expansions that happen naturally with the rest of the team and how they’re working on Season 3. So that is where my involvement will stay is at that very, very high level.”
He also teased more on the game front, saying “there’s more stuff happening in ‘The Last of Us’ world that has not been announced,” but wouldn’t go into detail. Later in the interview, he says his hope is they can end the HBO series in a “deeply faithful way” and that will be the “end for this version of the story”. Then he adds: “But that’s not the end of ‘The Last of Us’ for Naughty Dog”.
He also says they have the data that confirms people have watched the show and “have come back and bought a PlayStation or bought it on PC and have played” the games, which “have become this gateway for them” into gaming.
Filming on the third season is expected to begin early next year ahead of an early 2027 airing.
