‘The Last of Us’ shake-up: How cocreator Neil Druckmann’s shock decision to step away could impact the series’ future

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With the end of Season 2 of HBO's The Last of Us, we already knew that the third season would see a significant change in front of the camera — with Kaitlyn Dever's Abby taking over the spotlight as the perspective shifts from Bella Ramsey's Ellie.

But an announcement on Wednesday from the video game's creative director and series cocreator Neil Druckmann means a serious shake-up is also going on behind the scenes.

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"I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO," Druckmann wrote in a statement posted to the Instagram account of game publisher, Naughty Dog.

"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."

Intergalactic, a cyberpunk-influenced sci-fi space adventure, was revealed in December at the Game Awards with a trailer featuring Last of Us series actor Tati Gabrielle as the game's protagonist, Jordan.

"Co-creating the show has been a career highlight," Druckmann's statement continued. "It’s been an honor 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."

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Mazin, who previously created Chernobyl for HBO released a statement of his own, singing Druckmann's praises as he leaves behind hands-on series duties. (Though, Druckmann will remain credited as an executive producer.)

"It's been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO," Mazin said. "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 [The Last of Us Part II cowriter] 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."

Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann in AprilCarlos Gonzalez/Deadline

The news comes just shy of two weeks before the announcement of Emmy nominations, where The Last of Us is looking to repeat Season 1's strong showing. The first batch of episodes earned eight Emmys in all and scored a Best Drama Series nomination for Druckmann.

For Season 2, HBO submitted Druckmann for his directing duties on the emotional late-season episode "The Price," for which he also shared a writing credit with Mazin and Gross. The season's sole Writing submission was for the devastating "Through the Valley," which Mazin wrote alone.

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None of the news around the departure, which was originally reported by The Ankler, has pointed to any evidence of a creative break between Mazin and Druckmann. (Unlike the acrimonious split of Druckmann and his former Naughty Dog collaborator Bruce Straley, who, despite serving as the game director for The Last of Us, was not given any credit for the HBO series.) A combination of Intergalactic being previously announced and Mazin having written 11 out of 16 total series episodes alone suggest that Druckmann's exit could simply just make sense for him and the show.

However, parsing their public statements, there did seem to be some disconnect about the future of both the series and the game franchise. For years, Druckmann toyed with various ideas for a Last of Us Part III game — which would presumably be the template for additional seasons of the HBO show — even though Part II effectively wrapped up the Ellie-Joel storyline. But in March, Druckmann seemed to back away from that notion, telling Variety, "I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of Last of Us. This could be it."

Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin at the 2024 Writers Guild AwardsTommaso Boddi/Variety

Mazin, meanwhile, has taken a longer view, suggesting on multiple occasions that he couldn't imagine Season 3 would wrap up the series.

"We always think ahead. We thought ahead to Season 3 and Season 4," Mazin told Collider last month. "There’s a decent chance that Season 3 will be longer than Season 2. ... But certainly, there’s no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we’ll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That’s the most likely outcome."

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Even with Druckmann stepping aside, the show will be in capable hands for Season 3 and whatever lies beyond. In addition to his two nominations for writing and producing Season 1 — and likely pending nods for Season 2 — Mazin is a two-time Emmy winner for writing and producing Chernobyl.

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