THE LAST OF US SHOW
DOING THE GAME JUSTICE
By John Saavedra
Bringing the story of The Last of Us to TV screens won’t be an easy task for HBO.
For many fans, Joel and Ellie are characters that defined an entire generation of gaming when The Last of Us hit the PlayStation 3 in 2013.
As you can imagine, there’s a bit of pressure on HBO to get its live-action adaptation of The Last of Us right. Fortunately, the show has amazing talent behind it.
With the help of executive producer Craig Mazin and The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will be the actors charged with bringing Joel and Ellie to life.
Pedro Pascal
Bella Ramsey
For now, fans should breathe easy. Druckmann has posted the first photo of Joel and Ellie in live action and HBO has really nailed the look of these characters!
While Mazin and Druckmann have confirmed that they’re going to be as faithful as possible to the games, there will also be changes, tweaks, and extended storylines.
Mazin says fans shouldn’t worry: “In this case, I’m doing it with the creator, and so the changes that we’re making are designed to fill things out and expand, not to undo, but rather to enhance.”
“The things that are new and enhancing the storyline we’re doing are connected in organic, serious ways that fans and newcomers alike will appreciate.”
It’s very true that some gamers haven’t been too kind about additions to The Last of Us’ story in the past, as in the case of the sequel, which proved to be incredibly controversial.
One of the biggest controversies had to do with the death of a main character who was then replaced by their murderer in the story.
But since the HBO show covers the events of the first game, things shouldn’t get as toxic as they did with the video game sequel. Hopefully!