HBO’s The Last of Us, an adaptation of the popular video game about a post-apocalyptic world where most of humanity have been turned into mushroom-infected, zombie-like creatures, was one of the most critically praised and popular television series of last year.
One of the best episodes was the third one, a standalone installment that moved away from the main characters of Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal) and centered around Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), a couple who found each other after the collapse of society and created as close to one could get to a good life in a world overrun with fungi-creatures and fascist governments.
At the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, where Offerman won an award for his guest-starring appearance as Bill, he shared that there have been some rumblings of putting together a limited series based on the stories of Bill and Frank.
“I think we pitched like a whole mini-series of a prequel of their lives before they meet each other,” Offerman told press after winning his Emmy. “It could be a musical,” he joked. “We’re not short on ideas. We’ll see what [show creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann] come up with.”
Nick Offerman says he’s pitched a musical prequel for his #TheLastofUs storyline with Murray Bartlett, following his Creative Arts #Emmys win pic.twitter.com/myS0L2Yvl9
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 7, 2024
Offerman, unsurprisingly, was also more than open to reprising his Last of Us role. “I was lucky, this time they needed a guy who could use a shovel,” he deadpanned. “And there are only three of us in Hollywood. Harrison Ford passed, and Jane Lynch was not available.”
Any potential spinoff is still only that—something that might happen, and Offerman admitted that “somebody with a higher pay grade” than him would be making that call. While we wait for any more potential news on this front, you can check out Offerman’s work with a shovel on Max, where all episodes from the first season of The Last of Us are streaming. Season Two of the series is also in production and will premiere on HBO sometime in 2025.
