The Last Of Us Season 2 Production Clarified During WGA & SAG-AFTRA Strikes

Fans were thrilled when The Last of Us was renewed for season 2, but are now concerned that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes will affect the production of the hit sci-fi series. Craig Mazin, showrunner for the HBO series has now clarified the production status for the adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game. Read on to find out what is happening as the show’s writers and actors strike for fair pay.

WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes affect The Last of Us season 2

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey have received critical acclaim and record-breaking viewership for season 1 of The Last of Us. However, with the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike, fans are wondering whether season 2 of the popular show will be delayed. Meanwhile, the series’ showrunner, Craig Mazin has clarified the situation.

Readers will recall that The Last of Us was renewed for a second season shortly after it premiered on HBO in January 2023. However, while season 2 was expected to air at sometime in 2025, the writers’ and actors’ strikes will cause a delay.

Speaking with Deadline, Mazin spoke of the HBO series’ 24 Emmy nominations, while giving an update on the status of the second season. He said he finished writing the first episode of season 2 before the WGA strike started, but has been “brain-writing” ever since. Meanwhile, this early into the SAG-AFTRA strike, Mazin says there is a possibility that season 2 will be ready for its planned 2025 premiere.

He told Deadline that they know what the whole season is and that he was able to get a write and submit the first episode before the deadline hit, adding:

We know what the whole season is, and I was actually able to get a write and submit the first episode right before the deadline hit. So now I’m just walking around kind of brain-writing, I guess, which I don’t think is scabbing. I take walks and I think through the scenes because when the bell rings and this is over because the companies have finally come to their senses, I’m going to have to basically shoot myself out of a cannon because we really want to try and get this show on the air when it’s supposed to be on the air.

‘Getting pretty close’

Mazin continued, saying they had a little more flexibility than normal because they had to wait a little longer to line up production with the weather. In fact, he said a lot of what they do is outside, so they had a schedule that “weirdly hasn’t been immediately impacted.”

Meanwhile, he said they are getting pretty close, but they can’t keep their original start dates forever, adding:

If these strikes go much longer we inevitably will have to push and that hurts us, and it hurts the audience, and it hurts HBO. We all, everybody wants to get back to work; I think everybody that’s actually doing the work, including the network people who are with us on the ground, I think everybody just wants to get this solved. So fingers crossed.

While it is impossible to predict how long the strikes will continue, Mazin says they are ready to jump straight into The Last of Us season 2 once they are over. This means that despite the problems, they hope to make the second season premiere date.