Season 2 of the HBO series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us is expected to start filming in Vancouver, Canada sometime in February, and in the build-up to the production Deadline has learned the names of the directors who will be at the helm of the new episodes. The first season consisted of nine episodes that were handled by seven different directors, and it looks like season 2 is going to be split between seven directors as well. Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who was also creative director on the video game source material) will be directing episodes, and the line-up also includes Mark Mylod, who just won an Outstanding Drama Directing Emmy for HBO’s Succession (he also directed the movie The Menu and worked with HBO on Game Of Thrones and Entourage); Kate Herron, who directed the entire first season of the Marvel / Disney+ series Loki; Stephen Williams, whose credits include the HBO shows Watchmen and Westworld; Nina Lopez-Corrado, whose work includes episodes of Supernatural, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and HBO’s Perry Mason; and Peter Hoar, who earned an Emmy nomination for directing episode 3 of The Last of Us season 1, Long, Long Time.

Deadline wasn’t able to find out which, if any, of the directors will be at the helm of multiple episodes.

The story of the The Last of Us video game is set years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, transforming most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who’s living in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in the black market of this community. Together, they’ve become known by the local criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. On a mission to reclaim their stolen guns, they run into the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the zone. This mission soon becomes much more than they were prepared for. 

For the HBO series, Pedro Pascal plays Joel, who is “tormented by past trauma and failure. He must trek across a pandemic-ravaged America, all the while protecting a girl who represents the last hope of humanity”. He is joined in the cast by Bella Ramsey as Ellie, “an orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet and who struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging… as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world”; Anna Torv as Tess, “a smuggler and hardened survivor in a post-pandemic world”; Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy, “a former soldier who hasn’t lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world”; Merle Dandridge as Marlene, “the head of the Fireflies, a resistance movement struggling for freedom against an oppressive military regime”; Nico Parker as Joel’s daughter Sarah; Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, “a rebel in a quarantine zone”; Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill and Frank, “two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town”; and Storm Reid as Ellie’s best friend Riley.

Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who did the motion-capture performances for Joel and Ellie in the video game, are also in the cast of the show. Baker plays James, “a senior member of a group of settlers who must fight to keep their community alive in the face of increasingly brutal odds.” Baker also hosts a podcast that serves as a companion to the TV series. Johnson’s character is Anna, “a pregnant woman, alone and on the run, who must give birth under the most terrifying of circumstances.”

It was recently announced that Kaitlyn Dever from Booksmart and No One Will Save You has been cast in the role of Abby Anderson, a major character from the video game. Abby is described as being “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.” Isabela Merced, whose previous credits include Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Sweet Girl, is set to play Ellie’s new romantic interest Dina. We also know that Young Mazino of Beef will play Jesse, “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.” Jesse also happens to be Dina’s ex.

Are you looking forward to The Last of Us season 2? What do you think of the line-up of directors? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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