The long-awaited adaptation for HBO’s The Last of Us series has reached a milestone. The TV show officially wrapped production and a first-look photo was finally released. The image depicting The Last of Us shows how it can perfect the hardest video game mechanic from Sony’s legendary title.
As an award-winning insta-classic video game of the 2010s, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is easily at the top of the list of most wanted live-action adaptations. PlayStation’s 2013 action-adventure told the epic story of the few remaining survivors of a deadly virus in their journey west across the U.S. Playing the show’s father figure, Joel (Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian), teaches and guides the development of the young teen, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), as the two help each other survive. Featuring numerous terrifying enemies, Sony Pictures Television has brought the famed horror franchise to life for an HBO premiere expected in 2023.
HBO’s The Last of Us has the chance to perfect what many consider the hardest game mechanic, very noticeably based on the photo’s picture-perfect match to the video game. At Summer Game Fest, the first real look at The Last of Us’ main protagonists depicted some of the game’s key stealth moments in a stunning parallel. This mirror to the game is especially apparent with the infamous Clicker enemy looming in the background of the promotional photo. The Last of Us can use this rising tension to its full advantage.
Clearly, HBO’s released image is exciting for a multitude of reasons. The slow, creeping stealth action of the video game is translated perfectly into a live-action adaptation for TV. In the photograph, Pedro Pascal’s character is seen hiding with Ellie as the parasitic cordyceps fungus monstrosity awaits any noise. HBO’s dark, fret-filled environment proves that the series will likely lean into tense horror as a way to adapt the stealth mechanic that has plagued many players. In fact, to remain stealthy in this harrowing situation takes a lot of time and patience in the game. Thankfully, the TV show will have no difficulty transferring to screen the frustrating mechanic that unbearably slows down the pacing.
As a sign of more good news, The Last of Us director promised that the TV show will be the most faithful video game adaptation to date. Neil Druckmann, the co-creator of the franchise and producer on the show also ushered in news of the game’s original voice actors, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, to play different characters in the television adaptation. Druckmann directed the scene depicted in the first-look image, which shows how faithful the series will be to the video game’s dark mise-en-scéne. HBO’s The Last of Us can ultimately perfect the game’s hard stealth mechanic without any sacrifice. With the game’s massive content, many more terror-filled moments await.