The Last of Us creator Craig Mazin is avoiding something on Season 2 to protect his mental health after the critically successful first season.
The popular HBO series is getting a second season, and this time it will adapt The Last of Us Part II, a post-apocalyptic PlayStation sequel.
The second season of the show is still under development, despite the writers’ strike in Hollywood potentially delaying its eventual comeback.
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the show’s creators, have stated that Season 2 “will hit the main source material points,” but they are also reexamining their approach as they return the brand.
A Major Key Change in The Last of Us
While completing Season 2 of the HBO series The Last of Us, showrunner Craig Mazin disclosed one thing he is avoiding for the benefit of his mental health.
Mazin said during an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast that he will “try and avoid” writing while the shooting is happening this time:
“Yeah, I mean… So, during Season 1, what I was doing is, I was writing this, I was still writing while we were shooting, because we were shooting over the course of basically a calendar. I’m going to try and avoid that this time, because that was not good for my mental health and I am one of those weirdos that just, I like to write it.”
Marzin is striving to do as much before the cameras start rolling in Season 2 as opposed to the first season. The screenwriter stated that Mazin and his co-showrunner Neil Druckmann have the upcoming season planned out and are now composing the scripts while commencing a lot of work in parallel.
The Last of Us on HBO and Craig Mazin may benefit greatly from this move, despite the fact that it may seem like a very little alteration.
Being stretched thin as a showrunner on the first season, Mazin was unable to concentrate where it might have been needed when the cameras were rolling.
Now that he is trying to “get as much done ahead of time,” the screenwriter will be able to keep their focus even more carefully on the production rather than on his writing.
Given the extra time Mazin has due to the Writers Guild of America strike delaying development, there is no reason he shouldn’t be putting the dominoes in place as best he can so that he and the rest of The Last of Us team can knock them all down when things are ready to go.