‘Hamilton’ musical sparks MAGA fury after canceling run over Trump

Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida news. He joined Newsweek in February 2018 after spending several years working at the International Business Times U.K., where he predominantly reported on crime, politics and current affairs. Prior to this, he worked as a freelance copywriter after graduating from the University of Sunderland in 2010. Languages: English. Email: e.palmer@newsweek.com.

A number of Republicans and Donald Trump supporters have attacked those behind the hit musical Hamilton after it was announced that the show would be canceling its run at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in response to the president being made its chairman.

Newsweek has contacted the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for comment via email outside of regular office hours.

The announcement is the latest setback for the Kennedy Center since Trump became its chairman. The institution has reportedly faced a decline in ticket sales following the leadership changes, with artists such as Issa Rae canceling shows and withdrawing their associations with the center in protest.

The show’s creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said in a Wednesday interview with The New York Times that he doesn’t want to be a part of the “Trump Kennedy Center.”

Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller added in a Wednesday statement that the show will no longer be returning to the national cultural center in Washington, D.C., following the recent “purge” of its staff.

Seller added that this is not an action against the current Trump administration, but against the “partisan policies” following the recent “takeover.”

Trump oversaw a major restructuring at the Kennedy Center in February, which included forcing out multiple board members and its chairman, David Rubenstein. The president then named himself as Rubenstein’s replacement.

The new board of trustees made up of Trump loyalists also fired its longtime president, Deborah Rutter, with Trump naming his longtime foreign policy adviser, Richard Grenell, as interim executive director.

Trump posted on Truth Social that he appointed Grenell because he “shares my vision for a GOLDEN AGE of American Arts and Culture” and would ensure “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA” will be performed at the Kennedy Center.

Replying to Seller’s statement on X, formerly Twitter, Grenell accused the move to cancel Hamilton’s run at the Kennedy Center of being a “publicity stunt that will backfire.”

Other Trump supporters have also lashed out at the show on social media, with some suggesting it is “anti-American.”

Hamilton tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton and features a predominantly Black cast rapping the lines.

The show was scheduled to run at the Kennedy Center between March 3 and April 26, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump was officially named the chair of the Kennedy Center by its board on February 12.

During a November 2016 Broadway production of Hamilton, then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence heard some boos while attending the show.

Brandon Dixon, who played Vice President Aaron Burr, also read out a letter to Pence, stating that the cast was “alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.”

Richard Grenell posted on X: “Let’s be clear on the facts. Seller and Lin-Manuel Miranda first went to The New York Times before they came to the Kennedy Center with their announcement that they can’t be in the same room with Republicans. This is a publicity stunt that will backfire. The arts are for everyone — not just for the people who Lin likes and agrees with. The American people need to know that Lin-Manuel Miranda is intolerant of people who don’t agree with him politically. It’s clear he and Seller don’t want Republicans going to their shows. Americans see you, Lin.”

Terry Sater, a Navy veteran with “MAGA” in his X bio, posted: “I never liked this show anyway! The hypocrisy of clutching pearls when whites committed ‘cultural appropriation,’ and then celebrating Black and Hispanic Founding Fathers is the pinnacle of absurdity!”

The “Forever Trumper” X account posted: “Hamilton cancels Kennedy Center production after Trump becomes board chair. These people sicken me. They think they are hurting the president, but they are just exposing how anti-American they really are. Get over yourself.”

Trump supporter Jared Reall posted: “I don’t think these morons understand. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR TRASH.”

Harry Sisson, a Democratic content creator, wrote: “The cast of Hamilton has CANCELLED their shows at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC to protest Trump’s takeover of the center. They’re fighting back against Trump and his dictatorial tendencies. You love to see it!”

Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller in a statement: “The recent purge by the Trump administration of both professional staff and performing arts events at or originally produced by the Kennedy Center flies in the face of everything this national cultural center represents. Given these recent actions, our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center.”

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda told The New York Times: “This latest action by Trump means it’s not the Kennedy Center as we knew it. The Kennedy Center was not created in this spirit, and we’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center. We’re just not going to be part of it.”

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has yet to announce what show will be replacing the now canceled Hamilton run.

The CW’s Scrapped Live-Action Powerpuff Girls Reboot Trailer Surfaces Online 4 Years After Pilot Was Canned

Reacher Season 3, Episode 5 Review: I’m Relieved Some Shocking Character Deaths Saved An Otherwise Lukewarm Episode This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

The trailer for The CW’s Powerpuff Girls reboot is now online. The original animated show, which followed a trio of little girl superheroes who defend the town of Townsville, was created by Craig McCracken and ran for six seasons between 1998 and 2005. The live-action Powerpuff Girls, which was being developed at The CW in 2020 with executive producer Greg Berlanti and writer Diablo Cody, was set to star Chloe Bennet, Yana Perrault, and Dove Cameron as twentysomething versions of Blossom, Buttercup, and Bubbles. However, it never made it past the pilot stage.

Lost Media Busters has now unearthed the full-length trailer for the live-action reboot, which was retitled Powerpuff ahead of production on the pilot, which itself was later retooled before the series was officially cancelled in 2023. The trailer introduces the premise that the original animated series was an adaptation of the exploits of three real heroes created by Professor Utonium (Donald Faison), who have grown into disaffected adults after the public turned on them.

The clip then showcases the characters using their powers and accidentally killing Mojo, angering his son, the future mayor Jojo (Nicholas Podany). The girls all deal with the incident differently, with Blossom abandoning her sisters and the town, Buttercup becoming a firefighter, and Bubbles selling merch on Hollywood Boulevard. After the Professor encourages them to reunite, they reluctantly do so when Jojo unleashes a hypnotic power that turns the town into aggressive, violent rioters. The trailer also teases a mechanical monster and a love-hate relationship between Jojo and Blossom. Watch the video below:

More to come…

Source: Lost Media Busters

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Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10 Leave a Review Powerpuff Girls TV-Y7 Action Animation Comedy Superhero 9/10 Release Date November 18, 1998 Network Cartoon Network Showrunner Craig McCracken Directors Craig McCracken, Brian Larsen, John McIntyre, Randy Myers, Genndy Tartakovsky, Robert Alvarez, Chris Savino Writers Craig McCracken, Amy Keating Rogers Cast See All Cathy Cavadini Tara Strong

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NBC News Names Lester Holt’s Replacement

Lester Holt’s successor at NBC Nightly News has been announced. Tom Llamas, current host of NBC’s Top Story, will fill the anchor’s chair.

Top Story, NBC’s signature nighttime news show that runs directly after Nightly News, will also continue to be anchored by Llamas. He will now hold the title of managing editor.

It is unknown when Llamas’ will make his debut. Holt, the face of Nightly News for more than a decade, announced his departure last month. He will depart in early summer, although he will continue to anchor Dateline.

When announcing his retirement, Holt wrote, “A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News, and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history…as a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”

Llamas was viewed by many as a potential successor after he made the jump from ABC News to NBC News in 2021. He was formerly that network’s chief national affairs correspondent, and hosted World News Tonight.

In a statement to Deadline, Llamas said that anchoring Nightly News “is a profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility.” He said Holt “is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time. Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”

Roy Ayers, Jazz-Funk Virtuoso, Dead at 84

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Roy Ayers, the jazz vibraphonist whose smooth fusion planted the seeds of acid jazz and neo-soul, died Wednesday at the age of 84.

Ayers’s family confirmed his death on the musician’s Facebook page. “It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer, and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4, 2025 in New York City after a long illness.” A specific cause of death was not immediately available.

Originally a practitioner of hard bop, Ayers eased into jazz fusion in the early 1970s, a transition he underscored by forming the group Roy Ayers Ubiquity. Cultivating a smooth signature sound that wove lush soul, elastic jazz, and tight funk, Ayers emphasized rhythm and texture, a combination that gave him a handful of crossover R&B hits; “Running Away” cracked Billboard’s R&B Top 20 in 1977, with “Hot” matching that feat in 1985.

It was a blend that also made his work ripe for sampling. “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” a Ubiquity track from 1976, became a ubiquitous sample in the 1990s after being featured in Mary J. Blige’s “My Life.” Over the years, Ayers’s music was sampled by Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, A Tribe Called Quest, Kanye West, Common, and Tyler the Creator, among scores of other acts.

A native of Los Angeles, Ayers was born September 10, 1940. Raised in a musical household, he found himself drawn to the vibraphone after witnessing Lionel Hampton’s Big Band when he was five years old. Soon, he learned piano and sang in a church choir but didn’t acquire his first vibraphone until he was 17. As he studied music theory at Los Angeles City College, he played jazz in nightclubs.

The first time Ayers appeared on record was on a session by saxophonist Curtis Amy. By 1963, he had his own recording contract, releasing his debut album West Coast Vibes in 1963. Ayers began to gain widespread recognition for his collaboration with flutist Herbie Mann. The vibraphonist joined Mann’s band in 1966, a favor the flutist returned by producing three albums for Ayers in the late sixties, sessions that helped push the vibraphonist toward funkafied fusion.

Signing with Polydor, Ayers released Ubiquity in 1970, swiftly forming a group named after the album. His burgeoning jazz-funk had a cinematic flair that flowered on his soundtrack for the seminal blaxploitation film Coffy in 1973.

Ayers hit his groove in the mid-1970s, releasing Everybody Loves The Sunshine, the 1976 album that became the cornerstone of his legacy. Its warm, comforting vibes turned it into an enduring standard that eclipsed its chart position, thanks considerably to it being repurposed on hip-hop records by generations of musicians raised on his music.

Ayers continued to play fusion as the cult around his old records coalesced. He embraced the newer musicians who created acid jazz, neo-soul, and jazz-rap out of his albums. He appeared on Guru’s pioneering 1993 album Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 and, nearly a decade later, took advantage of his status in neo-soul circles with Mahogany Vibe, a 2004 record featuring appearances by Erykah Badu and Betty Wright.

Ayers didn’t record more albums after Mahogany Vibe but he didn’t become a recluse. He cameoed on Tyler, The Creator’s “Find Your Wings,” then played with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad on the 2020 album Roy Ayers JID002.

‘Suits’ star Rick Hoffman will return as Louis Litt on ‘Suits LA’

While Hoffman is only set for a single episode, he may return for more if the series is renewed for a second season, according to Deadline Hollywood, which first reported the news.

The USA Network premiered Suits in 2011, and it was popular enough with viewers to run through 2019. But the legal procedural centering on senior law partner Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and hotshot associate Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), who’s hiding the fact that he has no formal legal training, caught an extraordinary second wind four years after its cancellation. Nielsen reported that American viewers watched 57.7 billion minutes in 2023 — the year Suits landed on Netflix — making it the year’s most-viewed streaming series.

Suits LA was greenlit on NBC in the wake of the anchor series’ extraordinary resurgence. Though no series regular on the spinoff has a direct tie back to Suits, Stephen Amell, who plays the federal prosecutor turned entertainment lawyer Ted Black, told EW in December that his character has a connection to Specter and that Macht will return as a recurring guest star.

“I’m not the one that invites them,” Amell said of the rest of the Suits cast, “but as far as I’m concerned, all of them are welcome.”

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Suits and Suits LA creator Aaron Korsh teased last month that “Harvey is not the only Suits original character that we’re going to see this season. There will be at least one other original Suits character. I’m not going to say at what level.” Hoffman is at least one, but there’s no word as yet whether any other OG biggies, like Sarah Rafferty, Gina Torres, or Meghan Markle are also in talks to reprise their roles.

Korsh told EW in December that past Suits cast aren’t the only names he’s looking at for cameo and guest roles. Since Suits LA has taken up residence at a law firm catering to Hollywood’s rich and powerful, Korsh playfully suggested that actors like Denzel Washington would be welcome to appear as themselves on the series. “Denzel, open invitation [to cameo], you heard it here first,” he joked.

Robert Pattinson Says He Is “Too Sensitive” to Watch One Particular Genre

The Batman actor Robert Pattinson has admitted to not being quite as brave and bold as the Caped Crusader he famously portrayed in Matt Reeves’ 2022 superhero movie. He revealed in a GQ video interview that his movie-watching habits have changed significantly as he has grown older, noting that he used to love watching all kinds of horrors unfold on the screen, but he has now become “too sensitive” for the genre.

“I used to watch a lot of really dark stuff when I was younger and think ‘yeah, this is cool.’ And now, I’m too sensitive. I watched Henry [Portrait of a Serial Killer] again the other day. It really frightened me. It’s strange, you’d think it would go the other way round. As you get older, you become less frightened of these [films]. I can’t watch horror movies anymore.”

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Bong Joon-ho, who recently directed Pattinson (with his strange accent) in the sci-fi dark comedy Mickey 17, attributed the actor’s aversion to horror movies to the changes that occur when becoming a dad. Pattinson welcomed his first child with Suki Waterhouse in March 2024, but Pattinson couldn’t trace it back to that time, as he joked that it “happened before that,” though he acknowledged it could have been a contributing factor to worsening his fear of frights. Pattinson had an example of a recent experience that left him so afraid that he wasn’t just sleeping with one eye open, he also armed himself with knives.

“I had to do a meeting with the director, and he’d done this horror movie, and I watched it, and I kept thinking that someone was breaking into my house. And so, I was sitting on my sofa with two kitchen knives waiting for the person to come in. And then I fell asleep with them basically in my neck on the couch… It was probably a squirrel.”

He Might Not Like Watching Horror Movies, but He Has Starred in a Few

Given Pattinson’s resistance to the horror genre, it must be a living nightmare when he stars in a scary movie. The actor found himself slipping into a dark descent to madness in Robert Eggers’ black-and-white psychological horror The Lighthouse, which received widespread critical acclaim. He later joined the cast of the coming-of-age crime thriller The Devil All the Time to portray a morally corrupt preacher before cleansing his palate with a memorable turn as Bruce Wayne — a role he is reprising in The Batman Part II, but it looks like there is a long wait ahead for that one.

Pattinson’s latest role is that of Mickey Barnes in Mickey 17, a potential future sci-fi classic based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. His character is described as an “expendable” worker who literally dies for a living, as he is sent on a variety of lethal assignments. However, he keeps getting back up again as he is reprinted after every fatality, but matters become muddied when two versions of him are set loose at the same time.

Mickey 17 hits screens on March 7, 2025.

Source: GQ

Mickey 17 Not Yet Rated Sci-Fi Release Date March 25, 2025 Director Bong Joon-ho Writers Bong Joon-ho Cast See All Robert Pattinson Naomi Ackie Steven Yeun Toni Collette

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The Last of Us season two cast additions reveal how show is expanding upon the game

Six supporting cast members have been announced for the second season of HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation, giving us an idea how the show will expand upon Part 2’s story.

As reported by Variety, Joe Pantoliano, Alanna Ubach, Ben Ahlers, Hettienne Park, Robert John Burke, and Noah Lamanna will all be joining Bella Ramsey’s Ellie and Pedro Pascal’s Joel when the second season airs next month.

Pantoliano – whose previous credits include Bad Boys for Life and The Matrix – will play Eugene, while Burke (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) stars as Jackson resident Seth, and Lamanna (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) is playing Kat. These three characters have all featured in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2.

The remaining three actors will all portray characters who’ve been written specifically for the show. Ubach (Euphoria) has been cast as Hanrahan, Ahlers (The Gilded Age) is playing Burton, and Park (Hannibal) stars as Elise Park.

Please note, there will be some story spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 – and therefore potentially the show – below.

While it remains unclear how the three new characters will fit into The Last of Us Part 2’s narrative, the inclusion of Eugene and Kat gives us an idea as to how the series is expanding upon the game’s story.

For those unfamiliar, Kat (or Cat, as she’s known in the game) was Ellie’s ex, but never actually appeared in person during The Last of Us Part 2 – although she was originally supposed to feature during the Jackson dance sequence. Instead, she was only mentioned in passing, with Dina telling Ellie she didn’t think Cat was right for her, among other things. This is clearly going to change in the TV series, and a previous trailer appeared to show Ellie getting her tattoo (which came from Cat in the game). I wonder if we will also see Kat appear in the dance sequence, as well.

Next up, we have Eugene, who again is mentioned in The Last of Us Part 2 but doesn’t appear in person, barring collectables. Eugene was a patrolman who lived in Jackson before dying of a stroke aged 73. He formed a close relationship with Dina (played in the show by Isabel Merced), and more of his story can be uncovered by finding a letter in-game – which reveals he had a wife and daughter, but left them to join the Fireflies, where he served with Joel’s brother Tommy.

“The Fireflies will be fine without you. Your daughter won’t,” the letter from Eugene’s wife Claire reads. “She keeps asking me when you’re coming home. I can’t lie to her anymore. I miss you. But I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Come home. Please. We love you.”

According to Variety, Eugene’s season two appearance will be similar to season one’s standalone Bill and Frank episode (and because of which I still can’t look at strawberries the same way).

In a recent interview about the process of adapting Part 2 for the series, it was revealed the idea to bring Eugene’s story into the mix came from showrunner Craig Mazin, but Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann was all for it.

“I get excited when I see these opportunities,” he told Variety. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know Eugene that well!’ The story we told [in the game] was somewhat superficial. The way this character comes in really gets to the heart of Joel and Ellie and their relationship.”

Given Druckmann’s words here, and how Bill and Frank’s relationship was expanded upon for season one of The Last of Us, I can only assume Eugene’s family relationship and his move to become a Firefly will become a key element of the show’s story. Oh, and Eugene is also very tech savvy and had a cannabis lab, so pretty sure that will come up.

The second season of The Last of Us is set to kick off in the US on 13th April, and will comprise seven episodes, with one of those episodes being “quite big” in length.

It remains unclear where the second season of The Last of Us will wrap up, but Mazin has already confirmed it will not cover the entirety of Part 2’s narrative. It will, however, feature a lot more infected than the first season.

Hamilton cancels plans to perform at Kennedy Center amid Trump shakeup

Musical’s producer says show ‘cannot in good conscience’ perform at arts center whose leadership Trump has fired

The mega-hit Broadway musical Hamilton is pulling out of plans to perform at the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington next year, citing Donald Trump’s shakeup of the art institution’s leadership.

“Our show simply cannot, in good conscience, participate and be a part of this new culture that is being imposed on the Kennedy Center,” producer Jeffrey Seller said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop-flavored biography about the first US treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, won the best new musical Tony award, the Pulitzer prize for drama, a Grammy and the Edward M Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. It also earned Miranda a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant.

The show played the Kennedy Center in 2018 during Trump’s first administration and again in 2022 when Joe Biden was president. It was scheduled again from 3 March to 26 April next year. Those plans are now off. Tickets had yet to go on sale.

“We are not acting against his administration, but against the partisan policies of the Kennedy Center as a result of his recent takeover,” said Seller. “These actions bring a new spirit of partisanship to the national treasure that is the Kennedy Center.”

The Kennedy Center has been in upheaval since Trump forced out the center’s leadership and took over as chair of the board of trustees. His decision to do so is part of his broad campaign against “woke” culture.

Actor Issa Rae, singer-musician Rhiannon Giddens, author Louise Penny and the rock band Low Cut Connie also have canceled scheduled Kennedy Center events. Singer-songwriter Victoria Clark went ahead with her 15 February show, but on stage wore a T-shirt reading “ANTI TRUMP AF”.

This is not the first time Hamilton has taken a political stance. In 2016, the cast delivered a curtain call appeal to Mike Pence, then the vice-president-elect, who was in the Broadway audience, asking that the Trump administration “uphold our American values” and “work on behalf of all of us”.

The Kennedy Center, supported by government money and private donations, attracts millions of visitors each year to a complex that features a concert hall, an opera house and a theater, along with a lecture hall, meeting spaces and a “millennium stage” that has been the site for free shows.

Suits LA Is Bringing Back Another Original Series Alum After Gabriel Macht, And I Have Just One Complaint

Suits LA is only two episodes into its run on NBC in the 2025 TV schedule, and fans of the original show are still waiting for Gabriel Macht’s much-hyped arrival as Harvey Specter. The latest good news is that creator Aaron Korsh is making good on his promise that Harvey won’t be the only OG character coming back, as Rick Hoffman is officially on board to return as Louis Litt. I only have one complaint about the big news.

Rick Hoffman is slated to appear in one episode of Suits LA Season 1, according to Deadline, although he could appear in more if the spinoff is renewed for a second season at NBC. Fans of Louis Litt who wanted more of the character following the original series finale are in for some kind of update on what he’s been doing since 2019. Alas, the outlet also reports that Hoffman and Gabriel Macht won’t be appearing in the same episode of LA, although Macht is slated for three total. No reunion for Harvey and Louis!

While it remains to be seen what brings Harvey back, creator Aaron Korsh did preview that Macht’s character made the most sense to come back from a story standpoint. I’m curious about what will happen that Louis is only needed for one episode, but at least the possibility of more episodes in a second season suggests that the door will be left open after his arrival. For the sake of all fans who are tuning into the spinoff despite the lukewarm reactions to the pilot, I just hope that Rick Hoffman utters “You just got Litt up” at some point.

It’s worth noting that Suits LA isn’t just Suits 2.0 set in Los Angeles rather than New York City. Unlike the corporate law firm where Harvey, Louis, Mike, Donna, and the rest worked, Ted Black (Stephen Amell) is a federal prosecutor-turned-entertainment lawyer. With only two episodes airing on NBC and available streaming with a Peacock subscription at the time of writing, there’s still the question of whether this Suits spinoff will last longer than Gina Torres’ Pearson, which only ran for one season.

Of course, Pearson was airing on USA while Suits was still on the air, so perhaps the novelty of the franchise returning combined with a network TV audience will give LA the lasting power than Pearson never reached. Original series stars like Gabriel Macht and Rick Hoffman appearing as guests surely won’t hurt, although fans shouldn’t hold their breath for Meghan Markle as Rachel and Patrick J. Adams expressed that he was “happy” to keep Mike’s ending as it was.

No date has been confirmed for when Rick Hoffman will bring Louis Litt to Suits LA, but you can find new episodes of the spinoff on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, ahead of fellow freshman series Grosse Pointe Garden Society as part of NBC’s new lineup.

This Could Be It for The Last of Us, Says Series Creator Neil Druckmann

There’s a whole lot of The Last of Us coming your way next month. To begin with, PC players will finally be able to get their hands on the 2020 sequel thanks to The Last of Us Part II Remastered, which will be released on the platform on April 4 via Steam and the Epic Games Store. The port is being handled by Nixxes Software and Iron Galaxy.

Then there’s the second season of the acclaimed HBO TV series featuring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. This new season will include a portion of the story seen in Part II and start airing on April 13, giving you just enough time to experience the game’s version of the story, which is said to be quite different.

Speaking to Variety, series creator Neil Druckmann explained:

I love the changes that we’ve made. It’s a different version of that story, but its DNA is in there. Maybe more than excited, I’m really curious what their reaction will be.

Some of the changes include changing Abby’s character to accommodate the difference between her character in the game, who’s very powerful physically, and actress Kaitlyn Dever, who’s far slimmer. On this subject, Druckmann said:

Kaitlyn Dever wanted to work with us; we wanted to work with her. It’s not worth passing it up to continue a search that might never bear fruit to find someone that matches the physicality.

Truth be told, many fans had hoped to see Dever cast as Ellie before the creatives settled on Bella Ramsey. On the other hand, there was the matter of age, since Ramsey was much closer to the character than Dever. This might be why they settled on her instead but still wanted to work with an excellent actress like Dever, though that’s speculation on our part.

There will be some additions to the plot of The Last of Us Part II. For example, the character Eugene is only named in the game, but he’ll be seen (played by actor Joe Pantoliano) in this new season of the TV show. Druckmann commented:

I get excited when I see these opportunities. I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t know Eugene that well!’ The story we told in the game was somewhat superficial. The way this character comes in really gets to the heart of Joel and Ellie and their relationship.

According to showrunner Craig Mazin, there may be space for one or two more seasons. But what about The Last of Us Part III? Well, Druckmann didn’t give much hope to fans:

I was waiting for this question. I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.

Looking at the history of Naughty Dog, it’s entirely possible he’s not lying. The Californian studio is known for abandoning its successful IPs over time, starting with Crash, then Jak and Daxter, and then Uncharted. At the latest The Game Awards, the studio unveiled its new sci-fi franchise, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. If that game sells well enough, they might work on a sequel for it instead of going back to The Last of Us. We’ve prepared a little poll to gauge your opinion on what they should do. Let us know your take in the comments!