Pedro Pascal won big at the 2023 MTV Movie Awards despite his ‘Last of Us’ character’s ethically disputable decision

The Last of Us television adaptation mopped the floor last night with the rest of the competition by winning big in a number of categories, but fans of the post-apocalyptic world first created by Naughty Dog in 2013 can’t help but raise their eyebrows at the fact that Joel Miller has bagged the “Best Hero” award despite his questionable work ethic and controversial moral decisions.

During last night’s MTV Movie & TV Awards, The Last of Us was repeatedly called up for being a superb adaptation of the acclaimed video game. 

The HBO series helmed by Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog’s own Neil Druckmann won the “Best Show,” while also taking home the “Breakthrough Performance” (Bella Ramsey) and the “Best Duo” (Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey) trophies, but what ended up surprising fans the most was Pedro Pascal’s win in the “Best Hero” category, considering the fact that Joel Miller might be anything but a hero.

A loving parent? Sure. A competent survivalist? Absolutely. A menace with a gun? No doubt about it. But a hero? I mean, we’re talking about a character who essentially massacred an entire hospital to save one girl, not to mention that this act essentially doomed mankind to bear this horrid apocalyptic nightmare for the foreseeable future.

It’s sort of hilarious to think of Joel Miller as a hero, but Ellie might definitely see him as her savior. The two of them made their way back to Jackson in the final moments of The Last of Us, and when we see Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey next, they will have geared up to play the two protagonists as they were portrayed in the 2013 game’s sequel, The Last of Us Part II.