The Last of Us TV Show Will Do One Big Thing The Games Did Not (Exclusive)

While The Last of Us is heavily following its source material in the form of The Last of Us Part I, the critically acclaimed PlayStation game, there are a few changes being made for the sake of TV’s adaptation of the masterful story. In one case, there is a big element of the game which is not going to be featured in the show. In the case of this article, there is an element of the world of The Last of Us which was not heavily featured in the game which will be a bigger part of the show which may be considered a bit of spoiler for viewers so consider this your warning! The Last of Us executive producer Craig Mazin, who previously delivered HBO’s Chernobyl, opened up about adding elements to The Last of Us for television which will explore the days and ways where the world as it was known came to an end. 

The Last of Us viewers will be treated to a considerable amount of details which examine the virus which caused society and humanity to crumble and the day it fell. Gamers remember the opening sequence with Joel, his brother Tommy, and his daughter Sarah quite well. This is just the tip of the iceberg for the TV show, though. “In the games, because you’re playing as Joel, there’s really no reason for anybody to say, ‘Hey, let’s talk about a thing we all already know,’” Mazin explained. “But, once we got into this, especially when Joel and Ellie are together and alone, her natural curiosity seemed like a great way to kind of explore filling in some of the questions people might have watching the show.” Joel will be played by The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal, with Game of Thrones star Bella Ramsey checking in as Ellie.

The games, The Last of Part I and The Last of Us Part II, focus almost entirely on the characters in the post-apocalyptic world. The Last of Us on television will spend some more time seeing how they and their world got there. “I know I’m a very curious person. I want to know how things work,” Mazin said. “I want to know why they went wrong and once Joel starts to explain and fill in some of those gaps, some of the things that happen in the very first episode suddenly take on a slightly different meaning and a little bit more resonance. So, I think it’s just a product of my natural curiosity. I think people would want to know. You don’t want to bore people with lots of exposition but, again, I made a show where I guy stood up and explained how a nuclear reactor worked. I thought, ‘Hey, I could do this again with the fungus. I can do it!’” 

While rumors of The Last of Us Part III have begun to swirl, Mazin does not want to keep the TV show around longer than he will see it to be welcome. By the sound of it, the two games which have been released so far seem to be a satisfactory undertaking for the creative to deliver and Mazin doesn’t have interest in telling his own story without what the source material has laid out. “

Personally, I don’t have a great desire to go beyond what’s there currently but I know that the story of the second game is way bigger and far more complicated than the story of the first game which means there’s more story to adapt,” Mazin explained. “So, if folks show up and watch this season of The Last of Us, everybody on our side and on HBO is excited to keep going and tell that story but, again, I’m a believer in endings. I don’t want to feel like we’re suddenly just treading water. I think every episode of television, if you’re going to make a television show, it’s kind of a crazy, arrogant thing to do, to expect people to watch your show. Every episode has to deliver. Every single one.”

Are you excited for The Last of Us? Subscribe to ComicBook & ET’s new podcast The Last of Pods for weekly interviews and episode discussions! The Last of Us premieres its first episode on January 15.