First Look At 'The Last of Us' Television Show
2020 had been an interesting year. The COVID-19 outbreak threatened to shut down the entire world. In March 2020, as countries struggle to fight against the pandemic, HBO announced that it was working on a television adaption of the critically acclaimed game The Last of Us. A feature film and an animated short film adaptations had been attempted previously, but both projects were canceled by Sony. Thus there were mixed feelings in regard to this initial announcement. HBO would officially greenlight the series in November 2020, giving hope to fans of the game that they will see the adaption come to fruition. Production trudged along even though the pandemic resulted in scheduling conflicts that caused a change in director. There had been very little buzz about the show until February 2021 when the production team finally revealed the leads for the series. Bella Ramsey, known for her role as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, would portray the main character Ellie. Another Game of Thrones alum, Pedro Pascal, would be playing the smuggler Joel.
In an age when news spreads at an astonishing rate over the internet, specific details about the series were kept very tightly under wraps. The only pictures available was artwork from the video game itself and fan art. Recently, The Last of Us Updates Twitter account teased photos from the set, showing a post-apocalyptic backdrop that appeared to be lifted straight from the game. On September 26, 2021, Neil Druckmann, the game’s writer and director, and also one of the executive producers and writers of the HBO adaption, revealed the first official photo of Joel and Ellie on his Twitter account. This same photo was also shared on Pascal’s Twitter account.
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While fans would have liked to see the faces of Pascal and Ramsey in their Joel and Ellie costumes, they would have to be content with the view of their backs as they gaze at a peaceful grassland ahead. Interestingly, September 26 is known as “Outbreak Day.” In The Last of Us game, September 26, 2013 was the day the Cordyceps infection reached critical mass. The seemingly serene background is a façade that hides a chaotic post-apocalyptic world as hinted at by the dark clouds and debris in the distance.
Pedro Pascal rose to prominence when he portrayed the charismatic Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones and Javier Pena in Netflix’s Narcos. Pascal gained immense popularity when he starred as the titular character on Disney’s The Mandalorian. After production wrapped for Season 2 of The Mandalorian, he signed on to portray Joel in the television adaptation of The Last of Us. When news came out that his role in The Last of Us series would take first priority over The Mandalorian series, Star Wars fans began to worry about how this would affect his being in Season 3 of The Mandalorian, which is also currently in production.
In 2013, Naughty Dog released the critically acclaimed action-adventure game The Last of Us. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting teenage Ellie out of the safe quarantine zone and across the United States. The country has been ravaged by an outbreak of a mutant fungus, which turns humans into aggressive creatures known as the Infected. Survivors banded together in quarantine zones and independent settlements. Ellie may seem like another headstrong teenage girl at first, but players would discover that she is the key to developing the vaccine against the fungus, and thus the cure for the infection. As the two journey across the country, they would come to depend on each other to survive the post-apocalyptic landscape to reach presumed safety. The Last of Us was branded as a horror game, but many would say that it was more heartbreaking than frightening. While the game launched exclusively on PlayStation 3 in June 2013, a PlayStation 4 version would follow in 2014. Its sequel The Last of Us Part II was released for PlayStation 4 in June 2020.
There is currently no release date for The Last of Us series, although it is expected to premiere on HBO some time in late 2022.
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Source(s): CBR