The Last of Us Season 2 Will Feature ‘Pretty Brutal’ Content Cut From the Game

The Last of Us Season 2 on HBO will feature content that was cut from the original The Last of Us Part 2 video game, showrunner and Naughty Dog studio head Neil Druckmann has said.

Druckmann told Entertainment Weekly that “pretty brutal” content will be revived through the show, including some of the Lost Levels that were somewhat restored in the PlayStation 5 remaster of The Last of Us Part 2.

These included three different early versions of scrapped levels, including Jackson Party, The Hunt, and Seattle Sewers. The first two of these are much more calm, with Ellie attending a party in the first and tracking a bleeding boar in the second, but the final one presents plenty of the intense horror fans of the game and show are familiar with as she’s stalked by monsters in the tunnels underneath Seattle.

Whatever cut content has made its way into the show will seemingly put fans on edge, however. “[It’s] pretty brutal, but I’m very excited for people to see it,” Druckmann said. He also teased that a “pretty prominent” character only talked about in the game will make an appearance, “similar to what we did with Frank in Season 1.”

Season 2 is set to add many new characters, of course, including Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Danny Ramirez as Manny, Tati Gabrielle as Mel, and many more, but one question mark remains as Catherine O’Hara has also joined in a mystery role.

Fans likely don’t have too long to wait before each mystery is answered, as Episode 1 of Season 2 is set to premiere in April, but there’s a chance some things will remain unclear for much longer. This is because HBO plans to extend The Last of Us Part 2 beyond a single season, unlike the critically acclaimed Season 1 which covered the entirety of the original game.

Fellow showrunner Craig Mazin has said previously that Part 2 features a lot more story to cover, so while Season 3 isn’t greenlit as of yet, they’ve built Season 2 with a “natural breakpoint” after just seven episodes.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.