The Last of Us season 2 is gearing up with two first look images. The HBO Max series based on the 2013 Naughty Dog game first premiered in 2023. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, it told the story of a broken man who helps a young girl cross a devastated country destroyed by a deadly fungus. Through many trials they become family.
Season 1 ended in a difficult choice for Pascal’s Joel. Ramsey’s Ellie had decided to give her life up for a possible cure to this fungus. But Joel…he couldn’t let go. He couldn’t lose another daughter. So he made a decision to save Ellie, kill everyone his way, and lie to Ellie about the Fireflies having found more people with her same condition. Season 2 sees the consequences of that.
Max released two photos on Wednesday (May 15) that feature Pascal and Ramsey. Pascal is older, his hair longer, and looking to be somewhere where he is safe. There are even hanging lights in the background. Ellie is older, still tough as nails, and looking to be somewhere cold and where she needs to protect herself. And these two photos have fans intrigued and wondering what’s to come when the show premieres in 2025.
[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE LAST OF US 2 GAME]
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The picture of Pascal is the most jarring and recognizable one of the two. In The Last of Us 2, there’s a scene where Ellie is dancing with Dina. The ceiling has these lights that match what we see in the Joel picture. And after a homophobe calls out Ellie and Dina for kissing, Joel gets in the middle. By this point…things have soured between Ellie and Joel to the point where she tells Joel, “I don’t need your f**cking help, Joel.”
The devastated look on Joel’s face is one that stuck with players years later. And this face that Pascal’s Joel has longer hair, indicating plenty of time has passed by, and that look, it’s easy to guess what scene this is from. It’s also easy to understand why Pascal can jump into other projects like nothing. He has the time and season 2 of The Last of Us seems to be going down a devastating road game fans are dreading.
Need a refresher on the dance scene? Watch it below:
As for the Ellie picture. Theories from fans think that both photos place Joel and Ellie in Jackson. That follows the game. Plus, Ellie is covered up and keeping herself warm in the same manner she did when she was near Jackson. But again, theories, theories, theories. And we won’t know how season 2 is going to come along until we watch when the show premieres in 2025.
