HBO recently shared a short video teaser featuring many of the new releases that we can expect to be coming out of the studio in the future, including The Idol, Succession, The White Lotus, The White House Plumbers, Industry and last but not least, The Last of Us TV series.
The Last of Us TV series teaser shows us some of the actors that we will be seeing in the iconic roles such as Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, Nico Parker as Joel’s daughter Sarah, Nick Offerman as Bill, Murray Bartlett as who we think is Frank, and a glimpse of a clicker (or the remnants of one) stuck in a wall. Some unseen castings that we know about also include Anna Torv as Tess and Gabriel Luna as Tommy.
We get to see some iconic and heart-breaking scenes, such as Ellie saying to Joel, “Everybody I have cared for has either died or left me,” to which Joel can’t help but respond, “You have no idea what loss is.”
If you have played the game, you will understand why Joel comes off with such a cold heart, but if not, we won’t spoil it for you. Some other scenes included in the sneak peek are the iconic beginning of the game, and Joel teaching Ellie how to properly use a gun.
Although The Last of Us TV series teaser was short to accommodate all the other series that were included, it gives fans a great idea about the tone that HBO is setting with the series.
Who, When and Why?
Unfortunately, there was no official release date for the HBO series included in The Last of Us TV series teaser — although there have been hints that it will be arriving sometime in 2023, and wouldn’t it be awesome if they managed to release it exactly a decade after the initial launch of the game?
And with regards to staying true to the original, in an interview, Pascal assured fans that The Last of Us TV show could “more than live up to” the original game and that he believes fans will not be disappointed.
It has been mentioned that the first season will tell the story of the original game, leaving room for some ‘deviations’ to add new and exciting elements. With that being said, it looks like some faces from the game will be returning for the series, such as co-creator Neil Druckman who seems to be directing at least a few of the episodes, Merle Dandridge reprising her role as Marlene from the game, and Jeffrey Pierce who originally voiced Tommy in the game but will now be filling the role of Perry.
With a fan base that has had 9 years so far to cultivate and a past attempt at an adaptation that failed, HBO has their work cut out for them, however, the positive response to the first look seems that fans are eagerly awaiting the release of a TV show based on one of their favourite games from the last generation.
The Game
The Last of Us is an action-adventure game that was developed by Naughty Dog in 2013 and then published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Co-created by the brilliant minds of Neil Druckman and Bruce Straley, we are introduced to a hostile, post-apocalyptic world twenty years after a fungal outbreak that obliterated most of the U.S. population, turning many of the victims into infected, zombie-like monstrosities.
Players step into the role of Joel, a smuggler, who has been tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across what is left of the United States. Ellie needs to get to the Fireflies, a revolutionary militia group painted as an antagonistic faction trying to work against the spread of the pandemic. Ellie is the key to reverse engineering a cure. Although Joel and Ellie have been brought together under strange and desperate circumstances, the two must learn to trust and rely on each other, and fight every instinct telling them not to.
The game starred the voices of legendary voice actors and actresses like Ashley Johnson as Ellie, Troy Baker as Joel, Hana Hayes as Sarah, Jeffrey Pierce as Tommy, Annie Wersching as Tess, Robin Atkin Downes as Robert, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, W. Earl Brown as Bill, Brandon Scott as Henry, Nadji Jeter as Sam, Ashley Scott as Maria, Reuben Landon as James, and Nolan North as David.
Almost a decade after the game first came out (not including its many remasters and re-releases), HBO has finally shared an awesome first-look teaser for the TV series they are working on.