Mazin, 53, noted that he and Druckmann, 46, are not interested in creating their own stories that exist outside of The Last of Us video game. ( Druckmann wrote the game, which launched in 2013, and its 2014 sequel. The future of the video game franchise is still up in the air.)

HBO's The Last of Us returns for its second season on April 13, and ahead of that, showrunner Craig Mazin has said Season 2 is the show's "Empire Strikes Back" season, suggesting a dark turn for the story akin to the second Star Wars movie. He said in an interview that sequels are challenging in part because the characters are tested in new ways.