After the massive success of the first two installments, fans of The Last of Us video game series are still anxious to know whether the story will continue past the hugely acclaimed second installment The Last of Us: Part 2, or whether the story will end there.
Neil Druckmann, the game’s creator, offered a glimmer of hope recently, commenting that he believes there is “more stories to tell” while still not committing to a third game just as the first season of the series’ television adaptation, which Druckmann co-created with Craig Mazin, kicks off on HBO, and OSN+ in the Middle East.
While Mazin and Druckmann have said that they are only planning to adapt existing material, with multiple seasons likely in store for an adaptation of the second game, Esquire Middle East spoke with Mazin recently about the possibility of a third game, and whether Druckmann has shared with him any of his ideas for what that continuation might look like.
“He hasn’t,” Mazin reveals.
However, Mazin has considered whether, if that happens, what that game might look like.
“Knowing Neil, if he does end up doing a third game, I can only imagine that it will not be what I expect or what anybody expects, which is exciting,” says Mazin. “I don’t want to get in the way of it. I just want to be back here like a fan.”
If the third game does arise, he also revealed that he is on board to adapt the third game with Druckmann, provided that he feels he has a good take on how to do it.
“Should that day come, and I play that game, and I’m like, ‘I know what to do’, yeah, that will do it. Hopefully,” he says.
Mazin is very careful to say that he cannot confirm a third game is happening, as Druckmann keeps such information close to the chest.
“Who knows. My instinct is that, [as we adapt The Last of Us], I don’t want to go beyond the existence of the source material, but if Neil does find his way to a third game, I don’t know that is what’s happening—don’t take this as a sign that that is even happening, because I don’t know. He’s very good about keeping all that stuff secret for me. But if he finds his way to a story for a third game, as somebody that writes and adapts for television, I want to play it first. I wouldn’t mind if he can give me an early play through, I would really love to play it, but I don’t want to get ahead of what that is.”
We are, of course, getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. Only the first episode of the beloved Naughty Dog video game’s adaptation has aired (already the top-ranked series in IMDb’s history), with eight more in store. So we still have plenty to look forward to, with many surprises in store, within this initial run, with much more to happen before we can even think of getting a third game.
And yes, Mazin is pretty psyched that The Last of Us is getting such a warm reception from fans on IMDb.
“You know, that happened with Chernobyl also, then we kind of settled into a nice sixth or seventh place. If I can get two shows in the top 10, that’d be pretty f***ing awesome. But mostly, I’m just glad that people are watching it, you know? That’s the goal. And the reception has been incredibly gratifying, obviously.
In addition to a potential third Last of Us game, Esquire Middle East spoke with Mazin about that warm reception, how they made it such a success, the “heartbreaking” wrap of filming, and more. Click here to read the full interview with Mazin.