The Last of Us Bill and Frank spin-off series pitched to HBO

A The Last of Us spin-off TV series focusing on survivors Bill and Frank has been pitched.

The news comes from Nick Offerman, who recently won an Emmy for his portrayal of Bill in HBO's series.

Speaking backstage after the awards, the actor was asked about whether viewers could see more from Bill and Frank in the future. "Oh, great question but I would have to ask somebody with a higher pay grade than myself," he replied (thanks, Deadline).

"It certainly has been pitched. I think we pitched a whole mini-series of a prequel of their lives before they met each other," Offerman continued, before joking: "It could be a musical. We're not short on ideas. We'll just, we'll see what Craig [Mazin] and Neil [Druckmann] come up with."

This is not the first time a suggestion of a series spin-off starring the two survivors has been broached. Soon after the third episode aired, its director Peter Hoar said a Bill spin-off could be an interesting idea to pursue. "Bill's got legs," he stated in February.

"Obviously we see a little moment where [Bill and Frank] are working with Joel and Tess. And we see the scene where they first meet - but then it's a good few years of them working together and understanding each other. Maybe that's the section that you do as a spinoff, where it's action-packed and whatever. Or rather than a spin-off series, maybe it's just a spin-off of Bill, and it's just digging into that one moment," Hoar mused at the time.

"I'd love to do something with Joel in the middle," the director continued. "You'd learn a lot about him mid-apocalypse, because obviously Pedro [Pascal] came on without all the grey in his hair, and he looked fabulous. I just thought, 'Wow, that's a Joel I don't know'.

"There's only that one scene [in episode three]. It was intriguing to me what they were up to in that period because they probably think, 'OK, we've got this. We're making the apocalypse work for us. We've got a little scheme going on here.' But as everyone knows - best-laid plans."

Meanwhile, series co-creator Craig Mazin previously said he isn't against a The Last of Us spin-off "in principle".

Speaking in August last year, Mazin admitted he didn't "know how much more 'The Last of Us' [he] personally would be able to do", noting that the shows are "so big". However, he has "no issue with it whatsoever" with others pursuing a series spin-off as long as it was approached with the same "care and respect and love" as the HBO team has shown to its own series.

As for its own series, the second season of The Last of Us is due to air in 2025. It will not cover the entirety of the second game, but it will have "a lot more infected" than in the first season. Filming is expected to kick off next month in Canada.

While Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal will be returning as Ellie and Joel respectively, there is still no official word on who the showrunners have cast as their Abby, although current suggestion is the part has gone to Booksmart's Kaitlyn Dever.