'The Last Of Us 2' Release Date, News & Update: Is Joel Dead? Naughty Dog Sequel To Bring In New Leads?

"The Last Of Us 2" clues in the "Uncharted 4" release by Naughty Dog point to a shift in leads for the new Sony game. Questions are raised from the easter egg on a presumably pregnant Ellie in the "The Last Of Us 2," foremost of which dwells on whether or not Joel is dead.

Joel Passes The Lead Onto Ellie In 'The Last Of Us 2?' 

Movie Pilot highlighted the points that confirm the woman in the "Uncharted 4" easter egg as a pregnant Ellie for "The Last Of Us 2." Besides physical characteristics shared between Ellie and the "The Last Of Us 2" woman, Movie Pilot also points weapon similarities.

In this case, the weapon that Joel holds in the cover of "The Last Of Us Remastered" is the same weapon that the pregnant Ellie holds in the "Uncharted 4" easter egg. In a separate Parent Herald article, this was pointed out as a possible passing of the torch from Joel, who took the lead in the first iteration, onto Ellie for "The Last Of Us 2."

New Leads In 'The Last Of Us 2'

In a previous report by CinemaBlend, director Neil Druckmann spoke of the option of giving "The Last Of Us 2" entirely new characters. However in the same event Sam Raimi, who is set to produce the film for "TLOU," expressed his personal preference to have Joel and Ellie continue the story in "The Last Of Us 2."

Is Joel's absence from the "Uncharted 4" easter egg indicative of a bigger change in "The Last Of Us 2?" Could Joel actually be dead and could Ellie be teaming up with other females in "The Last Of Us 2?"

A Polygon article cited Troy Baker, who voiced Joel, in saying that he has no details on "The Last Of Us 2." Some fans took this to mean that Joel will not be in "The Last Of Us 2."

The "Uncharted 4" easter egg did have a tag line of "American Daughters," which may or may not be a figurative reference rather than a character clue for "The Last Of Us 2." However, the "Uncharted 4" easter egg is likely not a definitive reference of plot lines but it does seemingly continue a tradition of introducing "The Last Of Us 2" much like "Uncharted 3" did for the first "TLOU."

Progress And Release Information On 'The Last Of Us 2'

GameRant reports that work did begin on "The Last Of Us 2" based on the LinkedIn profile of Michael Knowland, who was a Lead Character Artist on both "The Last Of Us" and "Uncharted 4" from October 2011 to April 2014. For the time being, "The Last Of Us 2" is being projected by speculations for a 2018 release date.