The Last Of Us teases Rat King appearance in season two, oh boy

Spoiler warning: this article contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II - scroll with caution.

Ever since The Last of Us’ first season concluded, all I’ve been able to think about is how the showrunners are going to adapt The Last of Us Part II.

We already know that it’s in motion, and it’s been confirmed that it’ll take more than one season to tell the full story, which isn’t surprising when you consider how lengthy and complex the second game is. Obviously, the world has been dying to know who’ll be playing everyone’s favourite buff golfer girl Abby Anderson, and if the show follows a similar format to the game (where we spend a lot of time with her before getting back to Ellie’s adventure), it’ll be particularly crucial to get the casting right. However, that’s not been an issue at all with any of the characters so far, so I remain hopeful on that matter.

Take a look at this comparison of Ellie in the game and TV show below.

One thing that The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin has hinted at ahead of the second season’s release is that there’ll apparently be more fungal foes for the characters to deal with. Many criticised the lack of infected in season one, so this is sure to be a popular decision.

“We’re certainly also going to push the technology that we use forward,” Mazin said in an interview with Deadline. “We learned so much, particularly in regard to the infected and how to better deliver scenes with them. So, we’re just going to keep moving the bar up and up and up. That’s kind of our call to arms.”

Now, is it just me, or does it sound like he might be teasing the Rat King there? Obviously, the biggest enemy we saw in season one was the bloater, and although they’re tough, they’re not super uncommon in the world of The Last of Us. The Rat King, on the other hand, is the strongest foe of all - chief mushroom, if you will. As an amalgamation of some of the very earliest infected patients all fused together into one huge, grotesque monster (which had remained trapped in the bottom level of the Seattle hospital until Abby unfortunately stumbles in), the boss fight is quite easily one of the coolest parts of The Last of Us Part II.

However, it’s worth keeping in mind that the Rat King is encountered towards the end of the game, so depending on how the sequel is adapted, it might not be in season two. We’ll just have to wait and see.