The fandoms are abuzz with excitement about HBO's upcoming bleak series adaptation of Naughty Dog's bleak 3-generation post-apocalyptic game The Last of Us. While the show's premiere still has a bit of a wait ahead of it, it seems that now was deemed an excellent time for a good old-fashioned info dump.
Neil Druckmann and the rest of the crew behind HBO's The Last of Us has just released the first solid and official look at Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, respectively. Unlike the previous teaser image of Joel and Ellie, which them from the back, this shadowy new image reveals the pair in their full glory doing what they do best: hiding from clickers. The moody effect is compounded when one notices the looming clicker in the background, likely dredging up some pulse-pounding memories from the game itself.
This is surely an exciting tease for fans of the series, some of whom might have been wondering just how faithful the HBO series was going to be to the original game. But while Druckmann has said that the show would make some tweaks to the story of The Last Of Us, it appears as though the visual style will take much more close inspiration from the games. However, that's not the only element from the games making the jump to the small screen.
Druckmann also has announced that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who voiced Joel and Ellie in the games, will appear in the HBO series, as reported by The Wrap. Their roles haven't been revealed just yet, and they obviously won't be abruptly pushing Pascal and Ramsey out of the lead parts, but it will be interesting to see where they show up. However, they aren't the first voice actors from The Last of Us to join HBO's adaptation. Merle Dandridge, who played Marlene in the game, also signed on to reprise her role in the series last year.
Given how Dandridge's involvement was confirmed over a year ago and the show's production is scheduled to end shortly (with Druckmann recently finishing work on his own contributions), odds may dictate that Baker and Johnson's roles will be much less substantial than they were in the games. Of course, there's always the chance that they were cast months ago and this was just a purposely delayed announcement on Druckmann's part. But either way, it's nice to have them on board.
The Last of Us is well known for having a pretty heavy emotional impact on its players, so the HBO adaptation is sure to continue that trend. Keep those tissues handy, because this adventure is going to delve into several definitions of exquisite pain.
The Last of Us is set to premiere on HBO in 2023.
Source: Naughty Dog/Twitter, The Wrap