"The Last of Us 2" was only recently announced but series creator Neil Druckmann already gave clues months prior. More specifically, Druckmann teased that his new project would reflect religion and how choices can shape a person into feeling the way they do in the present.
"I think it's also tied to human nature and human choice versus destiny, and this idea that, having grown up in, not a very religious home, but where religion was a big part of it, and this concept that everything happens for a reason," Druckmann stated in an interview with 89.3 FM Southern California Public Radio back in July.
At the time, Druckmann did not reveal the new project he was working on was "The Last of Us 2" but they were made right after the release of "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End." This would indicate that Druckmann made the statement right as he was dedicated his time entirely on "The Last of Us 2."
Druckmann's statements further indicate that things may have happened in the five years between "The Last of Us" and its sequel to push the protagonist Ellie into becoming the hateful, murderous person shown in the first trailer.
There is one line in the trailer for "The Last of Us 2" in which Ellie tells Joel she would find every last one of "them" and when she does she would kill them. The trailer did not showcase who she fought with or what they may have done to her and Joel.
Druckmann more recently stated that while the first game focused on the theme of love the sequel would then focus on the theme of hate, Games Radar reported. This shift in theme also reflects the actions Ellie took in the trailer.
It is further noted that several popular fan theories include the possibility Joel committed suicide and Ellie is only hallucinating whenever he is shown or that she may have been pregnant. Neither theories have been confirmed or denied but the latter was teased in an Easter egg art piece tucked in "Uncharted 4."