If you've played The Last of Us Part II, chances are you already know where The Last of Us season 2 is heading and, well, you're likely feeling pretty nervous right now (don't worry, we won't get into spoilers here).
Season 1 was a pretty faithful adaptation of the first Naughty Dog game and it stands to reason the same will apply to this next batch of episodes when the series returns to HBO in April.
Still, there were some big changes in season 1 - Bill's evolution resulted in arguably the show's best episode - and the casting of Kaitlyn Dever as Abby is a major one for season 2.
The video game version of that character is far more physically imposing and subsequently much larger than Ellie. However, Dever and Bella Ramsey are essentially the same size, a departure from the original versions of Abby and Ellie that's disappointed many fans.
Entertainment Weekly (via GameFragger.com) recently caught up with creator Neil Druckmann and he explained why Abby's physicality isn't quite as important to this story. "There's not as much violent action moment to moment. It's more about the drama. I'm not saying there's no action here. It's just, again, different priorities and how you approach it."
"Kaitlyn has the spirit of the game in her," he continued. "What I always loved about the idea was that you are going to continually be challenged as you were in season 1. When you try to pick a hero, it's tough because we're human beings, we're not heroes. For every heroic act, there's someone who suffers on the other side who may see you reasonably as a villain."
"When you look at Kaitlyn, there's just something in her eyes where, even no matter what she's experiencing, you connect. It was important that we found somebody that we could connect to the way we connect to Bella," Druckmann concluded, praising her as "an incredible actor."
Showrunner Craig Mazin added, "I personally think that there is an amazing opportunity here to delve into someone who is perhaps physically more vulnerable than the Abby in the game, but whose spirit is stronger. And then the question is, ‘Where does her formidable nature come from and how does it manifest?’ That's something that will be explored now and later."
It's previously been reported that The Last of Us will adapt Part II over multiple seasons. Two at most will surely be enough but Mazin seems confident that there's more story to be told, presumably beyond where the last game ended.
"I think it's pretty likely that our story will extend past a season 3," he teased. "How far past? I can't say. And that's not to say that there are not other stories that could be told, but this story is the one that Neil and I are telling."
Check out some new stills from The Last of Us season 2 below.