The first season of the video game adaptation made a huge change to one of the game’s most iconic details, and now, The Last of Us Season 2 looks to bring it back.
There’s no denying The Last of Us was a huge success for HBO. Although the pressure was on to please die-hard fans of the game, the horror show proved to be a hit, winning eight Emmy Awards and earning almost 32 million viewers per episode.
But there was one major change that caused viewers-in-the-know to scratch their heads. Instead of the infected producing fungal spores as in the video game, the infection was spread on-screen through tendrils.
However, Season 2 is fast approaching, and a new trailer proves that they’ve gone back to the game’s horrifying fungal approach.
The Last of Us Season 2 trailer features infected with spores
The new trailer, released on March 8, 2025, is the first full-length look at the upcoming season. There’s plenty of zombie action, but also some more tender moments between Joel and Ellie that hint towards the emotional arc approaching.
However, one snippet that has caught the attention of many is an infected that appears to be releasing spores into the air from its breath. (You can see it around the 01:18 mark below.)
If spores are coming into play, this will likely change the approach from the surviving characters. Such as in the game, they’ll likely have to wear masks when near groups of infected, and will ultimately become Ellie’s exposure as she has to go without her mask in front of Dina.
Co-creator Craig Mazin explained the creative change in 2023, noting [via ComicBook.com], “In the world that we’re creating, if we put spores in the air, it would be pretty clear that they would spread around everywhere and everybody would have to wear a mask all the time and probably everybody would be completely infected by that point.”
After seeing the trailer, fans have been quick to express their joy at seeing this detail from the games come into play.
“It would be hard to pull off two scenes, especially the big one, without spores,” one Redditor wrote.
“Agreed, you’d kind of need spores for the Nora sequence to make sense. It’s one of the best moments in the game and I’m glad they’re introducing spores for it to make sense,” said another.
The Last of Us Season 2 premieres on April 13, 2025.
For more, check out our list of the best horror movies and all the new TV shows coming out this month.
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