HBO debuted the trailer for Season 2 of “The Last of Us” at SXSW on Saturday at a panel featuring the cast and series creators.
The trailer is as full of monsters and violence as Season 1 was — with a lot more fire.
It opens with Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, sneaking through an abandoned building, seemingly in fear of a nearby attacker as broken glass litters the floor and a dog wanders in the background, before showing a shot of a man’s arm wearing a watch and a shot of what looks like a gravesite full of thin wooden crosses, each draped with a medallion.
Pedro Pascal’s character, Joel, is first seen with Ellie as the two trek through a forest. “You OK?” Joel asks. “Yeah,” Ellie replies after a pause, but it’s clear that she has more on her mind.
Joel is then shown sitting in a house in Jackson, Wyoming in a settlement where he and Ellie have lived for five years since the end of Season 1. In his lap is Benjamin, the young son of his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna), whose wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) was pregnant in Season 1.
“This is where we live,” Joel says to Benjamin, pointing at a map. “And what’s that?” “The fence,” Benjamin replies. “What’s inside?” Joel asks, and Benjamin replies, “People,” as shots play of Joel and Ellie playing guitar and Ellie dancing with her new friend Dina (Isabella Merced). Finally, Joel asks, “What’s outside?” and his nephew says, “Monsters,” over shots of someone wielding a scythe, W.L.F. (Washington Liberation Front) tanks and soldiers, new antagonist Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) trudging through snow, and yes, monsters. Several rows of them sprint towards the fence outside of the Jackson settlement and are kept at bay by fiery explosions before Tommy is shown fearfully firing a machine gun.
Cast members Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Kaitlyn Dever, Isabela Merced and Young Mazino appeared on the SXSW panel alongside series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.
“The Last of Us” is based on Naughty Dog’s PlayStation video games of the same name, which were written and creative directed by Druckmann. The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, Mighty Mint and Naughty Dog. Executive producers include Mazin, Druckmann, Carolyn Strauss, Jacqueline Lesko, Cecil O’Connor, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Evan Wells, while Halley Gross serves as a co-executive producer and writer.
Season 2 of “The Last of Us” premieres on April 13. See the trailer below.
More to come…
