The live-action clickers for HBO's The Last of Us TV series look amazing, and on 01/15/23 audiences will get their first full look at them when the Pedro Pascal zombie show premieres. One of the first The Last of Us promotional stills showed leads Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey) crouching behind a counter, with a clicker ominously looming in the background. Promo footage has since shown the live-action clickers in motion — and they're just as unsettling as in The Last of Us game. In The Last of Us, the live-action clickers are humans who have reached the third stage of infection from the Cordyceps brain fungus. The HBO Last of Us clickers get their name from the screeches and clicks they produce for echolocation, their primary way of sensing their environment as fungal growths have covered most of their face and blinded them.
The Last of Us is based in a post-apocalyptic world in which the Cordyceps fungus has ravaged most of humanity. The recently infected are standard Hollywood fast zombies, but The Last of Us clickers are the third stage of the infection. Ellie, whom Joel is tasked with keeping safe along their journey, is thought to be the key to creating a cure for the Cordyceps brain fungus. One of the ways that The Last of Us show will differ from the games is the show's heavier focus on drama instead of action. In turn, live-action clickers will have a chance to become a more terrifying presence — the death of a beloved character in a show is a far greater consequence than a game-over screen, after all. The HBO Last of Us clickers already look incredibly terrifying, and their design pays proper homage to the game.
The Last Of Us Trailers Showed How Terrifying Clickers Are
More promotional footage has been released for The Last of Us television series, thanks to its looming release — and the live-action clickers are simply terrifying. In various teasers, one shot of the HBO Last of Us clickers pops up out of nowhere, prompting a jump scare. The creature's face has been completely taken over by sickening yellow and green fungal growth, its mouth smeared with blood, and making its titular clicking sounds. While many of the teasers only feature a short glimpse of the creature, it's enough to know that these live-action clickers are sure to frighten even the most steely of viewers.
The Last of Us clickers also make a stunning appearance in the official trailer, with footage from the same scene used more than once in various social media and TV spots. A monstrously huge The Last of Us live-action clicker is seen among a hoard of regular infected, crawling out from a fire. The monster is heard before it comes into view, and it's much beefier than the one featured in some of the teasers, proving that the clickers will be just as prominent in the show as they are in the game.
Clickers Aren't Like Regular Zombies
HBO viewers uninitiated with the game probably believe that The Last of Us will just be yet another iteration of zombie shows like The Walking Dead — but that couldn't be further from the truth. The lore surrounding The Last of Us' infected is anything but simple, with different stages of infection causing different types of "zombies." The Last of Us live-action clickers represent the third stage of infection for those that contracted the Cordyceps brain infection. If the HBO Max series is going to follow the game, then there are four stages of infection with each stage more dangerous than the last: runner, stalker, clicker, and bloater or shambler. Runners and stalkers have a more human-like appearance, but by the time the infected reaches the clicker stage, all humanity in appearance is lost.
In The Last of Us, it takes about a year to reach the clicker stage. The Cordyceps fungus has grown over the infected's face, so they have adapted to using clicking noises as echolocation to make up for their blindness. The fungus grows continuously and even acts as an armor of sorts. If Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) were to shoot one in the face, the fungus would be blown off, revealing the infected's real face, but it wouldn't be killed. Clickers are also said to possess high intelligence, a far cry from The Walking Dead zombies.
HBO Have Already Changed The Clickers
While only the third of four stages, the prevalence, and atmosphere created by the live-action clicker encounters in the games make them particularly intimidating. However, one teased change for Last of Us suggests that there might be something worse. Smallville's Connor Stanhope was cast as "Infected Man Stage 5," extending beyond the four known infection stages from The Last of Us games. In the games, the Cordyceps infection stages in order are "runner," "stalker," "clicker," and "bloater." The Last of Us Part II introduced the "shamblers" but they are an alternate fourth stage, not a fifth stage, and the Rat King is a creature that seems entirely separate from the infection stages.
Clickers in The Last of Us TV series, as in the game, will no doubt still be terrifying. Furthermore, the setup from the games' Part II could grow in HBO's The Last of Us, as the show could further expand on otherwise unexplored parts of its universe and thereby involve more potential characters, plot points, and stakes. With all the promise that the show has in developing the franchise further, the formidable clickers hold even more potential in The Last of Us, and their presence in the trailer is a good sign HBO hasn't overseen the importance of these iconic monsters.
The Last Of Us Is Using Practical Effects For The Clickers
Rather than relying heavily on CGI, The Last of Us' live-action clickers are made with mostly practical effects instead. Behind-the-scenes images of people in clicker costumes proves that the new series will be using more old-school techniques to bring on the scare factor — and this works better for the show. The Last of Us is set in a gritty, wild-west-style post-apocalyptic world, and CGI would ultimately look out of the ordinary in this setting. While CGI is the preferred method of special effects these days, The Last of Us has decided to forgo this route for a more traditional scare. After all, sometimes CGI can border on the uncanny valley, and there are few slip-ups more noticeable in a modern show or movie than sub-par special effects.
Trailers and promos have shown the live-action clickers, and it's eerie how closely they resemble their video-game counterparts. It's clear that co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have invested a lot of time and energy into paying homage to The Last of Us' source material, as the illustrious set photos and the costuming have proven. Like the original Star Wars trilogy, going the practical effects route will make the series infinitely better, as proven by the images released of these zombie-like monsters. All in all, the live-action clickers in The Last of Us sets apart the series from other zombie shows, and using practical effects was the right way to go.