Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann has teased there’s a “dramatic reason” why spores have returned in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2
Neil Druckmann has teased there’s a “dramatic reason” behind the spores’ return in ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2.
The HBO show – which is based on Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic game series of the same name – will introduce the spores in the second season after they were absent from the first, and now Naughty Dog boss Druckmann has promised there is a good reason why they will appear.
Speaking at SXSW 2025, he said: “The reason [we’re doing it now], I mean, we really wanted to figure it out, and again, everything has to be drama. There had to be a dramatic reason of introducing it now. And there is.”
‘The Last of Us’ show – which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey – had swapped spores for tendrils in Season 1, which were used as the main method of infection.
However, showrunner Craig Mazin later confirmed “spores are back”, while Druckmann added there is “an escalation of numbers and types of infected, but also, as you see in the trailer, an escalation of the vector of how this thing spreads” in the second season.
He explained: “Season 1, we had this new thing that wasn’t in the game of these tendrils that spread, and that was one form. And then one shot you see in this trailer, there are things in the air.”
The Last of Us head Neil Druckmann teases ‘dramatic reason’ for spore return in Season 2
