AUSTIN, Texas — Although the video game “The Last of Us Part II” came out in 2020 — seven years after the blockbuster original — there are still enough viewers blissfully unaware of what’s to come on HBO’s Emmy-winning adaptation that the L.A. Times studio at SXSW was a strict spoiler-free zone on Saturday when the team behind the series stopped in for a visit.
Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, the unlikely duo who in Season 1 make their way across a dangerous post-apocalyptic U.S. in search of a society-saving miracle, “The Last of Us” picks up for Season 2 five years later, after the pair have established a stable home in the rebuilt settlement of Jackson, Wyo. — if not a stable relationship. The sophomore run also adds Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), a young woman who goes in search of Joel and Ellie after her father is killed.
The group — which also included fellow cast members Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna and Young Mazino, series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann and writer Halley Gross — talked about where we find the characters in Season 2, its political themes, and how hard they have to work to keep from spilling the beans while doing press. “The Last of Us” returns April 13. Watch the full video below.
