With anticipation already building for The Last of Us Season 3, Craig Mazin is stepping into a new role as he is flying solo as the showrunner and head writer. As Neil Druckmann focuses on his next Naughty Dog project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Mazin is now the lone architect shaping the post-apocalyptic series’ future.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Mazin shared that not much is actually changing behind the scenes. “Neil’s always had a full-time job running Naughty Dog, so it’s always been me up in Canada,” he explained.
Even though Hailey Gross and Druckmann are no longer co-writing, Mazin made it clear their collaboration in the earlier seasons laid strong groundwork.
“We really did get that work in. You can’t really tell half that story without thinking about what the whole story could be,” he said, referring to how The Last of Us season two only covered part of the events from The Last of Us Part II.
Season three will shift perspectives, diving deeper into Abby’s journey with Kaitlyn Dever stepping into the role. Expect to explore Abby’s story before, during, and after the events we saw in season two.
As for episode count, Mazin hinted the show might stretch back out. While season two had seven episodes, the goal is for the third to be “more on par” with season one’s nine. He added, “We’re currently fiddling around” with the episode specifics, but he wants to deliver “more bang for the buck.”
Mazin has also directed the first episode of each season and might take on more next time. “Everything is fitting together tonally. We have directors alternating, and I’m on set doing—I don’t know what you’d call it—’showrunner QC’ sounds insulting to our directors, who are amazing,” he said.
While he’d love to direct additional episodes, he admitted balancing writing and directing is a challenge. “We’ll see if I can get away with directing more than one [episode].”
We won’t be returning to Joel and Ellie’s world until 2027, but with Mazin steering the ship alone, it sounds like The Last of Us is still in good hands. From deeper character focus to potentially longer seasons, there’s plenty to look forward to as the next chapter unfolds.
