The Last Of Us fans agree Joel has to die in season 2

Spoiler warning: this article contains a big spoiler for the opening hours of The Last of Us Part II.

The TV adaptation of The Last Of Us was heavily praised for staying very close to its source material, something that doesn’t often happen with adaptations of video games. However, while fans anticipate season 2, many are concerned by the showrunner’s hints of Joel’s fate changing.

During a recent interview with Esquire, showrunner Craig Mazin hinted that a major change could take place right at the beginning of season 2, which would be a huge departure from the Last Of Us Part II’s storyline.

This wouldn’t necessarily be anything new for the show, as it hasn’t been afraid to expand on the game's story elements, such as the wonderful episode dedicated to Bill and Frank’s backstory, which was only hinted at in the first game. The TV adaptation also had a greater focus on the characters and their stories, rather than Joel and Ellie fighting off the roaming infected, which many fans wanted to see a bit more of.

So if Joel’s fate is averted and altered, good news for the Pedro Pascal enjoyers, and bad news for fans wanting a faithful adaptation.

Fans quickly took to Twitter to voice their concerns, support, and theories regarding the potential story change, and why it may or may not happen.

One user claims Joel’s fate is integral to the plot: “But Joel’s death literally leads to all of the other events in Part II… What are they going to do make Tommy die instead?? Lol. That would make Ellie’s motive extremely weak.”

Another user stated: “If it comes true then I can already say that the last of us part 2 is already better than part 2 in the game”

Others interpreted the news in a different way, saying: “Sounds like they want to keep Pedro Pascal around as long as they can get away with. They’re just being tricky with their wording. I bet they’re going to add *a lot* to the start of part 2’s story so that [redacted] doesn’t happen during season 2.”

It looks like fans will just have to patiently wait for the second season to uncover what exactly the showrunner meant by their hint, as until some fresh insider information or an official trailer drops, we’re still none the wiser as to what the story of The Last Of Us Season 2 has in store for us.