HBO's The Last Of Us Is Now Just Another Failed Video Game Adaptation

A failed TV adaptation isn’t necessarily just when a show is cancelled (RIP Cowboy Bebop). It can also be when the momentum drops, the quality begins to wane, or when people working on it jump ship for one reason or another. It can trudge on, sure, but it won’t be reaching the finish line as thousands of passionate fans cheer it on.

HBO’s The Last of Us had a stellar first season, with Naughty Dog’s own Neil Druckmann working on it alongside Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin. It was a faithful adaptation of the 2013 masterpiece, following versions of Joel and Ellie, each excellently performed by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. The second season, which aired earlier this year, faced more criticism, and while it was ultimately a decent adaptation, the mixed reception was very hard to ignore.

However, Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross, one of the core writers for season 2 and co-writer of The Last of Us Part 2, have both left HBO’s take on things behind to focus more on their own video game projects, despite the setup for a third and potentially fourth season being in the works. Craig Mazin remains working on the show, with season 3 - centering on Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby - now set for a 2027 release date.

But even as someone who enjoyed The Last of Us Season 2, I fear it’s already failed.

The Momentum For The Show Is Gone

Not only is the wait until 2027 going to be unbearably long - comparable to the gap between the first and second season - but the show is just not popular enough to afford that sort of gap, missing much of the critical acclaim that came from season 1. Yes, I know it sounds strange saying The Last of Us isn’t popular enough, but it really doesn’t have the credibility to stand on its own anymore after Part 2 and season 2.

Putting aside its polarising reputation, people have a lot of love for The Last of Us Part 2 despite its daring storytelling decisions. But HBO must now sell a weaker version of that narrative to a new audience with new actors, expanded events, and waits between seasons that typically don’t bog down video games. Having to wait another two years to see where the show goes from here is bad enough, and Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross leaving the production behind doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

The series will continue, unless HBO decides to pull the plug, but I imagine the release date will slowly approach with little anticipation, and before we know it, we’ll watch the first few episodes just to learn what we already know: the show has already begun to fade away.

Netflix’s The Witcher Suffered A Similar Issue

We’ve seen similar things happen with Netflix’s The Witcher. Less a video game adaptation and more centered on the novels, The Witcher began as a love letter to the original stories, helped largely by the star of the show, Henry Cavill. The first season was brilliant, but by the time the second season came around, there were murmurings of conflict in production, and the quality seemed to dip marginally.

Soon after, we knew that the writers were looking to largely depart from the source material, while Henry Cavill was adamant to remain true to the books. The third season would be Cavill’s last, while the show would continue without him for a final two seasons, whereas the original plan was to have seven seasons of the show.

The Last of Us might wrap up with a third season, potentially backing away from the initial talks of a fourth, but will do so for the sake of closing it out. Many fans of the first season have already been turned away by the second season, and many fans of the second season are now dwindling as the show’s entire direction seems to be up in the air, with no one looking to catch it.

It’s not a shock to see another video game adaptation struggle and stumble, but it remains a disappointment each time.