Warning: This article contains spoilers for the “The Last of Us” Season One.
In addition to a whole new season, fans of "The Last of Us" have one more thing to look forward to.
According to a Feb. 2 announcement from HBO, actor Catherine O'Hara will be joining the cast of the hit zombie apocalypse show for Season Two in an "undisclosed role."
A wrenching end-of-the-world drama is an intriguing prospect given that O'Hara is best known for her comedic roles in "Schitt's Creek," "Home Alone" and the Christopher Guest mockumentaries including "A Mighty Wind" and "Best in Show."
While there's no confirmation on who O'Hara will portray in the Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey-led sci-fi drama, plenty of online commenters are speculating on possible prospects.
Among them? That O'Hara might play wife to Tommy Miller (Gabriel Luna), the younger brother of Joel (Pascal).
However, according to an article by EW, some rumors suggest that O'Hara will be slotted into a newly-created role, separate from the video games the series is based on.
The news broke in a short, to-the-point, X (formerly Twitter) post on the Max account, which simply posted a photo of the "Schitt's Creek" actor and the statement, "Catherine O'Hara has joined the cast of the HBO Original series "The Last of Us" for Season 2."
According to the EW article, during a recent appearance on "Watch What Happens Live," O'Hara confirmed that she was in talks to do the show and that one of her two sons serves as a set dresser on the show.
When will 'The Last of Us' Season 2 be released?
In January of 2023, HBO announced on Twitter that the series would be returning for another season on HBO Max. Which came as good news for the show's legions of fans.
When can viewers expect a new season?
According to Deadline, Casey Bloys, HBO's CEO, announced in November that "The Last of Us" is expected to begin production as soon as this month and is targeted for a 2025 launch.
There's a five-year time gap between video games "The Last of Us" Part I and Part II, so the extended time between seasons isn't a major departure from the plot, considering that Ellie is 14 years old in Part I and will be 19 when Part II picks up the story. Star Bella Ramsey is 20.
Will Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return for Season 2?
Viewers may remember that by the eighth episode of Season One ("When We Are in Need"), Joel and Ellie, once-guarded companions, have grown inseparable, forging an unbreakable father-daughter bond.
Upon finding a shell-shocked Ellie (who discovered a pastor and his flock had been eating fellow parishioners instead of venison), the pair share a pivotal moment in the series with Joel tenderly saying, "It's OK, baby girl. I got you." In that moment, it becomes apparent that Joel has accepted being a father figure to Ellie, despite his pain over the loss of his own daughter on the first day of the pandemic.
Pascal and Ramsey's on-screen chemistry is undeniable and it's not surprising that the pair are friends off-screen as well.
In a clip posted by HBO on Twitter, Pascal says he loves Ramsey, whom he's affectionately nicknamed "Bellie," and said that teaming up with the British actor for the show has been nothing short of "a match made in heaven."
Ramsey agrees, confirming in the HBO clip that they are, indeed, "good buddies" and that their relationship has "developed as Joel and Ellie's relationship has."
So, will the friends return for next season? If a 2023 with interview Ramsey is any indication, then yes.
"I'm really excited. It still feels surreal to me that it's going to go again," Ramsey said of Season Two during an appearance on the Comicbook.com podcast "The Last of Pods," but said she's keeping her expectations in check.
"I don’t want to go into it comparing the experience to the first season. Season One of 'The Last of Us' was the best year of my life and it’s not going to be the same," she said during the podcast.
As far as Pascal is concerned, Ramsey said that she looks forward to being back in Canada with "The Last of Us" producer and writer, Craig Mazin, before cryptically adding, "And Pedro for a little bit."
What to expect from Season 2 of "The Last of Us"
Warning: Potential spoilers for the “The Last of Us” Season Two, based on Season One.
Since the very beginning of "The Last of Us," viewers have been on an emotional rollercoaster with beloved characters unabashedly killed off without warning including survivalist couple Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), brothers Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Sam (Keivonn Woodard), then again with Ellie's best friend and love interest, Riley (Storm Reid), among others.
Will there be heartbreak in the season ahead?
Unfortunately, it seems so.
In a 2023 interview with "The Hollywood Reporter," executive producer and writer, Neil Druckmann says that he and Mazin have "no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games."
If that's the case, then followers of the video game can likely guess what comes next in the storyline and while we won't come right out and say it, there are some whoppers on the horizon and fans have been sounding off on X (formerly Twitter) in protest.
"Season 2 of 'The Last of Us' is going to be 100x more painful," says one user, while another posts, "I cannot watch 'The Last of Us' season 2 because I would simply never recover ever."
Even with the announcement of O'Hara's addition to the cast, one Instagram user commented, "If Joel dies, there's no need to do a second season."
We'll just have to wait and see.
