NEW YORK — Sources have confirmed that season two of HBO’s critically acclaimed The Last of Us will see the Joel character replaced by Mike Nelson.
“We know this may not sit well with all of our fans,” said Craig Mazin, co-creator of the HBO series based on the popular video game series. “But we feel that Mike’s cold cynicism is a better fit for the world of The Last of Us than Joel’s whimsical sense of humor and reliance on props. There’s an episode in season one where they walked by a theater that had Underworld on its marquee and we really missed a great opportunity to have them riff on it for a few minutes. We’re still learning the best way to do this show as we go.”
“Plus Pedro [Pascal] played The Last of Us Part II to see what happened,” he continued. “And uh, he said he’s gonna focus on The Mandalorian for the time being.”
The unexpected announcement has created a vocal division among fans of The Last of Us.
“I don’t understand it at all, but I guess I’ll give it a chance,” said Matt Rodman, a local fan of the show and games. “I mean sure, it’s hard to imagine it with anyone else, but I’ve thought that about a lot of things before; Blink 182, Hannibal, my mom’s marriage. You end up getting used to it. I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I’ll probably always be more of a Joel guy.”
As of press time, it was still unconfirmed whether or not season two of The Last of Us would cover the DLC that allowed players to meet Tom Servo.
