HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us could be the show that finally breaks the curse of the video game adaptation. After pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into its production HBO clearly has high hopes for Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic adventure. Now, after months of looking at images from the massive shoot (the largest television production in Canadian history!), we finally have a glimpse of Joel and Ellie in action.
It came as the highlight of HBO Max’s ‘sizzle reel’ trailer showing off all their upcoming releases. We saw Pedro Pascal’s Joel instructing Bella Ramsey’s Ellie how to use a gun, a brief action scene of him protecting her, and a shot of Nick Offerman as survivalist Bill.
The Last of Us’ fanbase is famously passionate, so as you’d expect the footage is going down very well on social media. Pedro Pascal in particular is getting a lot of love:
Some are surprised Pascal is so good:
Those who know the games are setting themselves up for a brutal opening episode:
Others point to the show perfectly capturing Joel and Ellie’s chemistry:
Others are praising Nick Offerman’s Bill:
Looks like he’s stepped out of the game to us:
Does this override all the Warner Bros/HBO drama:
The show is expected to premiere in early 2023 and will adapt the entirety of the first game, though there are indications we’ll also see some of the DLC episode Left Behind mixed in. If this is a hit, fans will inevitably start calling for work to begin on a The Last of Us Part II adaptation, though as that’s set a number of years after the original we may have to wait for the actors to age up a little.
Let’s hope we get a release date soon so we can mark a date in our calendar.
