After sharing new photos, teaser videos, and character posters, it was only going to be a matter of time before HBO dropped the official full-length trailer for The Last of Us Part II, and it looks fantastic. Featuring more of the show's gorgeous production design and snippets of what are sure to be exceptional performances from its cast, the latest trailer has plenty of content for gamers and non-game fans to enjoy.
Those who have played Naughty Dog's acclaimed video games the show is based on will recognize several scenes from pivotal game moments, while also noticing a few changes and expansions on the source material.
When we left off with Joel and Ellie at the end of season 1, their relationship was in a very precarious place. After finally arriving at their destination, Ellie was taken from Joel and prepped for surgery, a surgical procedure that would help the Fireflies reverse-engineer a cordyceps vaccine at the cost of Ellie's life.
Once Joel realizes what they intend to do, he goes on a rampage, slaughtering everyone in the facility before finally rescuing an unconscious Ellie. Later, he lies to her, saying Ellie is not the only immune survivor out there and the Fireflies failed to find a cure. In both the show and in the video game, Ellie shows doubt about Joel's version of events. Their strained relationship becomes the main driving force for the second game and, as we can see in the trailer, for the second season, too.
We're headed into the darkest part of this story and the trailer sets up what we can expect from this season. As a courtesy to people who haven't played the games, I won't spoil some of the more significant story beats that are hinted at in the trailer, but there are a few things we can look forward to like what appears to be a flashback to a sweet day that Joel and Ellie spent at a museum and plenty of moments shared between Ellie and her love interest Dina (Isabela Merced).
The trailer doesn't show off much of Kaitlyn Dever's character, Abby, just yet, but she will be a formidable addition to this season along with another new antagonistic character, Isaac Dixon, played by Jeffrey Wright, who appears downright intimidating in the trailer.
After more than two years of waiting, we're finally inching closer to the season 2 premiere of The Last of Us. The show officially returns on Sunday, April 13, on HBO. It will also stream on Max.