The Last of Us HBO Series Asks Game Creator About New Infection

HBO's The Last of Us series consulted game creation studio Naughty Dog about developing new Infected for the upcoming show.

HBO's The Last of Us is heading to Naughty Dog, the studio behind the gaming franchise, to create a new Infected for the series. HBO's "The Last of Us," based on Naughty Dog's 2013 video game of the same name, focuses on The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal's Joel Miller and Game of Thrones' Lyanna Mormont actress Bella Ramsay. The relationship between the young Ellie. Joel must take Ellie across post-apocalyptic America to a faction called the Fireflies, after he discovers that the girl is immune to the virus that started it all.

The New Yorker reveals that the team behind HBO's The Last of Us series approached game creation studio Naughty Dog for help designing a new Infected for the series. Clickers for HBO's The Last of Us series looks just right, thanks in no small part to the respect for the source material of show creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, who consulted with Naughty Dog's concept artists to create a A different infected individual than in the game. The creators agreed that the new variant had to be terrifying to justify the deviation from the game. According to Mazin, the human aspect The designs chosen were his favorite parts, including "what the owner wore; the way her hair turned black after years in the ground".

How HBO’s The Last Of Us Will Differ From The Game?

Despite being billed as a series that sticks closely to its source material, HBO's The Last of Us will differ from the game in a few ways, which should give the TV show a chance to differentiate itself from its predecessors. HBO's The Last Of Us stars Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, who respectively brought Ellie and Joel to life in the original Naughty Dog game, though the duo won't be returning as the series' lead stars, with Ramsey and Pascal taking over. , but they were spotted playing roles throughout the first season of the series. A trailer for the show suggests that Baker will play James, a member of David's group, while Johnson will play Ellie's mother.

HBO's take on The Last of Us will also approach the game's story differently, as the show has the ability to retrace its own path through the apocalyptic story. The Last of Us show's timeline solves a problem in the game by introducing viewers Stories in more chronological order. The show will adapt the first game and its downloadable content, The Last of Us: Left Behind, focusing on Ellie's relationship with best friend Riley three weeks before the game begins. In doing so, the show's deviation from the source material will allow viewers to experience Joel and Ellie's backstories at the same time, rather than learning about Ellie's events later in the add-on like the game does.

The approach of respecting its source material while forging a new path forward is the best approach the series can take. Variations on the Last of Us show don't need to be a ton of options to completely separate the show from the game, but rather the ability to add interesting details to existing characters and storylines that enrich the experience of the series as a whole. Druckmann, the game's creative director and series co-creator, echoed the same sentiment at CCXP 2022, saying the show will feature material that he and his Naughty Dog team "didn't have the opportunity to put in a game," which would provide a much more satisfying experience. In-depth "rich" characters. HBO's The Last Of Us will present an entertaining Get in the game when January 15th rolls around.