‘The Last of Us’ almost became an animated series before landing at HBO

HBO’s The Last of Us has gone through so much before it became the hit TV show we know today. But did you know there was a different approach for this video game adaptation that was discussed? The video game and TV show cast member, Jeffrey Pierce, has shared that the video game almost ended up on our screens through a different and unexpected format.

Pierce revealed that before the game had plans for a live-action adaptation, there were talks to turn the 2013 post-apocalyptic video game into an animated series. During the voice actor’s interview with The Direct, he was asked if he had any hope to reprise his video game role of Tommy. The actor said no, but revealed that he would be involved in any The Last of Us adaptation, whether it was the canceled film project or a “motion-capture cinematic animated series.”

“No, not in the course of the HBO show. There have been a couple of different iterations over time. There was a movie at one point. There was a motion-capture cinematic animated series at one point. And both of those are things that I thought, ‘I got a pretty good shot at being involved to some degree.’”

Unfortunately, not much was revealed about how an animated version of The Last of Us would look like, who would work on it, or if it would have received the same treatment as the HBO show. One could imagine it would look something like Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an anime series based on CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 and produced by Studio Trigger.

The show was action-packed with some emotional moments. Or perhaps something like the League of Legends series, Arcane. The show featured a variety of gritty and elegant landscapes with a plot about loyalty and family. Also, the show won a handful of Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.

Adapting The Last of Us from a video game to the screen has faced roadblocks. It was announced back in 2014 that the game was going to receive a film adaptation, but ended up in development hell by 2016. While the project was canceled, it didn’t stop others from wanting to adapt to the popular video game. By 2020, HBO announced that the game would receive a TV series. And due to the show’s success during the first few weeks, season two was greenlit.

The first seven episodes of season one are available to stream on HBO Max, with new episodes coming out every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.