The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann to exit series ahead of season three

In a shock move, The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann is leaving the acclaimed dystopian drama.

Druckmann was also the creative leader on the popular video game the show was based on. He said the decision was a difficult one, but the timing was correct, with the second season having wrapped in May and production not yet properly started on the next episodes.

Druckmann said he will now focus on Naughty Dog, the video game developer that created The Last of Us and where he is studio head and head of creative, including writing and directing its next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Project.

His exit is a surprise and will send ripples through the show’s production and the fanbase. Druckmann has been involved with adapting the game into a screen project since the beginning, first exploring a film before turning to an episodic format for TV.

He created the series with Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin, who will now be The Last of Us’s sole showrunner heading into season three.

The Last of Us was one of the first critically successful video game adaptations, a genre that has notoriously been plagued by bad reviews and fan angst.

The show is set in a post-apocalyptic US with humanity challenged to survive after a fungus virus quickly spread and took over the infected, who turned into, effectively, deadly mushroom zombies.

The main character is Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a young teenager at the start of the story, who has immunity to the virus. Battled-hardened smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) is tasked with delivering Ellie cross-country to a group of scientists who believe they could develop a vaccine from her blood.

On their travels, Joel and Ellie come across other survivors and develop a deep de facto parent-child bond. Ellie’s mother died during childbirth, and Joel’s daughter died during the initial social breakdown.

Widely lauded by critics and fans for its character-focused storytelling, The Last of Us went on to be nominated for a slew of awards, with Pascal winning a Screen Actors Guild gong for his performance as Joel.

The series premiered in 2023 and adapted the first game, which was released a decade earlier, with season two going on to draw from the 2020 sequel game The Last of Us Part II.

Much like the game itself, the second season proved to be a little more divisive than the original, and ratings fell, albeit not dramatically.

The second game is also much longer, so the adaptation of it has been broken down into multiple seasons, although it’s not confirmed how many this will be.

Season two’s storyline ended partway through the game’s story, with the next TV instalment expected to shift the perspective to a different character, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), whom Ellie is hunting out of revenge.

Among the many themes the show will explore, chief among them is forgiveness, and whether it’s possible to let go of not just your opponent but yourself. Is there a pathway to peace without forgiveness?

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter for the release of season two, Druckmann addressed this. He said, “That’s the big question, are there certain acts that are unforgivable? It’s not a coincidence that Unforgiven was a big inspiration when I was working on this game. With enough willpower with enough mindfulness, is everything forgivable?

“If you were to ask a bunch of people, you’d get every answer under the sun.”

With Druckmann’s departure, it will be interesting to see how faithful the TV show remains to the game. So far, the series has expanded on but not deviated from its source material.

Druckmann said in a statement posted to social media, “Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s been an honour 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.”