Gabriel Luna explains how The Last of Us season 2 will expand beyond the game. Luna plays Tommy Miller, the brother of Pedro Pascal’s Joel in the series. After being introduced in the series pilot and later confirmed to be alive in Jackson later in the season, Tommy survived the events of The Last of Us season 1 and will be returning for the sophomore installment. In addition to Luna, The Last of Us season 2 features the return of Pascal, Rutina Wesley, and Bella Ramsay.
Speaking with ScreenRant in an interview for his new film The Astronaut at SXSW, Luna teased elements of The Last of Us season 2 and how it expands the content from the game. He stated that co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have done remarkable work “continuing to explore different chambers of the story that you may not have access [to] in the game.” This amounts to an “expanded role” for Luna’s character, Tommy, as well as “an expanded world for the show.” Check out the full quote from Luna below:
For those who are familiar with the source material, they’ll know kind of how that works. And then for those who aren’t, I think it’s just safe to say that, as the years go by, this settlement has become more and more developed and more people [have been] brought into the fold. So it all expands from there. And Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann] did a great job, just as in the first season, continuing to explore different chambers of the story that you may not have access [to] in the game. And I think that that’s a really clever thing that they do.
I told Neil, you could just do a Star Wars thing just because it takes five years to make a game, but only take a couple of years to make a scene in television. So just tell all your stories now in live-action. But yeah, there’s an expanded role for Tommy and there’s just an expanded world for the show.
What This Means For The Last Of Us Season 2
The Last Of Us Season 2 Already Had Expansions Planned
Given recent news about The Last of Us, this update should come as no surprise. The series recently cast six new actors, including Joe Pantoliano, who will play the role of Eugene. Eugene is a character from The Last of Us: Part II who is only mentioned in dialogue and seen in a photograph but will be further developed in the HBO rendition of the story. This is the perfect example of Druckmann and Mazin expanding the story and illuminating parts that players “may not have access” to during the video gameplay or may be relegated to side content.
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As such, Luna’s statement aligns with the previous direction that The Last of Us has been going in. His quote clarifies that the role expansions will not just be elevating minor characters and introducing new ones but also further fleshing out existing players. Tommy and his wife Maria were introduced in the first season, and Maria was pregnant. Giving them more screen time could allow The Last of Us to tackle the perils of parenthood during an apocalypse — and the grief Joel might feel as a result after losing Sarah — in more detail.
Our Take On The Last Of Us Season 2’s Expansions
The Series Is In Good Hands
Mazin is a world-class TV talent whose credits also include the raved-about miniseries Chernobyl. Given this, he can be trusted to go off-script with a major video game adaptation such as The Last of Us. He is also collaborating with Druckmann, one of the game’s original developers at Naughty Dog, which will help to ensure the project’s integrity to its source material while also expanding significantly enough to warrant its television adaptation.
The Last of Us season 2 will premiere on Sunday, April 13, at 9 pm ET.
The Last Of Us
8/10
- Release Date
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January 15, 2023
- Network
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HBO Max