Story

The Game 

The plot is set in a post-apocalyptic world. In 2013, an outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus wreaked havoc on the United States. The virus transformed otherwise normal humans into bloodthirsty and aggressive creatures known as the ‘Infected‘. In the suburbs areas of Texas, Joel along with his brother & daughter manage to escape from the ongoing bloodbath. However, in the attempt, Joel’s daughter (Sarah) is shot by a soldier and doesn’t make it out alive. 20 years later, we find Joel as a smuggler who is promised double the weapons cache by the Fireflies (A rebel militia group). The main goal was to smuggle a teenage girl, Ellie. All was going fine and dandy until after an encounter with a government patrol, Joel and his partner Tess discover than Ellie is infected. To make matters worse, following the narrow escape the trio find out that the Fireflies at the objective are all but dead. Tess sacrifices herself believing in the importance of Ellie. The duo, Joel and Ellie embark on a journey to find the few remaining Fireflies. The story in fact, revolves around their adventures and how life pushes them to their absolute limits. Both, through their hardships develop a father-daughter bond in an attempt to seek a cure to the virus that plagues the world.

The Series

At least, that is the story we see featured in the game. We expect the story in the series to originate from the very start of The Last Of Us Part 1 since the 2nd part takes place much later on. As for the actual plot, it may deviate ever so slightly with a few additional characters here and there, but nothing major. The trailer starts off with the song “Alone and Forsaken” playing in the background. As the trailer progresses, suspense becomes a key element as the story unveils itself. The infected from the first teaser almost look as if they were taken from the real game. HBO really has spent a lot of resources and time on the CGI this time around. Have a look at the trailer here:

The Cast

Neil Druckmann, the game director of The Last Of Us is the co-writer, executive producer and even the director (in select episodes) for the upcoming series. In addition to that, we have Pedro Pascal, famous for his work in The Mandalorian (Din Djarin) as Joel (The Last Of Us). We see a few similar faces such as Bella Ramsey or better known as Lyanna Mormont from the Game of Thrones. Most of the cast is similar to Chernobyl, an extremely popular TV Mini-Series. This excitement and lack of patience from the fans is what fuels the hype train. In the words of the game director:

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) September 26, 2022 Many shows tend to deviate a lot from the original source. This leads to heaps upon heaps of criticism from the fans. So it is a sigh of relief knowing that the main director for The Last Of Us (game) is behind this project. Interestingly, the series is said to be one of, if not the most expensive TV series to be shot in Canada. The budget for this series is rumoured to be in the ‘hundreds of millions‘.  The filming time period has now come to a closure, spanning over 13 months (July 2021 to June 2022). This will be the first HBO series to be based on a game. The first official footage of the show was revealed on the 21st of August, 2022. Today, the first full-fledged trailer/teaser is now available. 

Release Date

Originally, it was reported that the show would air sometime in 2022. However, back in February of this year HBO denied such claims and gave 2023 as a ‘planned’ release date. At the end of the trailer, we see a release window of 2023. This confirms the fact that The Last Of Us will be available to stream sometime next year.