The Last of Us has already become one of the most successful series in HBO history. The acclaimed live-action adaptation of the popular PlayStation video game was one of the network’s great achievements in recent months, and fans are looking forward to the second part.

Considering the time it took to adapt the first installment, it was expected that the second season would take quite a while as well, but it could take much longer than initially imagined due to the writers’ strike and the lack of agreement between the major studios and streaming platforms with their writers.

While speaking to Deadline, HBO’s drama chief Francesca Orsi confirmed that the new season of The Last of Us could be delayed:

“While everything at this moment is pencils down, I’m hopeful that we can come to terms sooner than later. Otherwise we will have to assess what is the end of the 24 schedule, what are the shows that are going to be delivered for 2025. At this point, those shows that I’m looking to air wouldn’t necessarily be ready if this strike last six to nine months. So yes, that’s a big question for us, but I think we’ll cross that road once we come to it. We were looking at The Last Of Us for some time in 2025. And The White Lotus was ideally looking to go in 2024 but there’s some question about timing of the strike.”

Other shows that might face the same fate could be House of the Dragon, even when production on the Game of Thrones spinoff continued despite the strike, and teen hit Euphoria, all major names within the company.

What to Expect from The Last of Us Season 2

As it happened with the first part, the second season of The Last of Us will adapt the second game of the franchise, although not completely. Due to the long history and complexity of the game, the creators of the show have already assured that they will need more than one installment to adapt it.

The Last of Us Part II picks up a few years after the events of the first part with Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) living in the latter’s brother’s community, adjusting to a normal lifestyle after their adventures and unfortunate encounter with the Fireflies at the end of the first part. Time passes and everything seems to be going fine for both of them, until Joel is murdered. Ellie will seek revenge for what happened, starting a journey on her own.

In parallel, the story follows Abby, the daughter of the doctor whom Joel murdered in the Fireflies headquarters, rescuing Ellie. Abby is on her own journey, also seeking her own personal revenge for what happened to her father. Despite knowing the plot of the game, the series could change a few details of the story in order to expand the franchise a little more, so not everything will follow the arcs of the videogame.