The critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us is coming to streaming services near you: HBO is adapting Joel and Ellie’s heart-wrenching story into a TV show slated for a 2023 release. The streaming giant just published a full trailer that gives us a first look at the post-apocalyptic world we came to know and love in the games. Joel, Ellie, and the cannibalistic infected are set to return during an era where the zombie hype is as unkillable as the undead themselves.
The Last of Us is getting the streaming treatment
For anyone who has been missing out: The 2013 horror title The Last of Us by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment is set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is on the brink of extinction as flesh-eating zombies that have been infected by the mutated Cordyceps fungus roam freely. It’s not just cannibalistic monsters and zombie slaying, though, as players embark on an emotional story-driven journey through the complex characters of Joel and Ellie.
Soon, everyone can experience the tragic narrative on a whole new platform. Starring Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) as Joel Miller and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) as Ellie Williams, HBO’s production is helmed by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, with the original game composer Gustavo Santaolalla returning to score the HBO show. While no official release date has been announced yet, the new trailer revealed a 2023 release for the first season streamed on HBO’s own platform in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK.
Joel and Ellie’s story continues
The mostly wordless trailer shows Pascal and Ramsey as Joel and Ellie and gives us a first impression of the violence and dangers of the hostile world they live in. To drive anticipation through the roof, we also get a look at the clickers, zombie-like creatures, whose heads and bodies have been deformed by the fungus. Fans will be able to spot scenes directly taken from the game, such as the game’s opening scene shown in the trailer. The trailer’s soundtrack, “Alone and Forsaken” by country artist Hank Williams, was also part of the game and will take fans right back into the forsaken and lonesome world. With these tidbits in the trailer, it seems likely the series will follow the events of the original game. How true it’ll stay to the original script and how much it’ll deviate from what we know and love remains to be seen.
Zombies roam forever more
One thing is certain: HBO’s The Last of Us is coming at a time when the zombie hype is as high as ever, with zombie shows, movies, and games coming out left and right. Just recently, Sony released a remake of the original game, The Last of Us Part 1, that’s available worldwide on Sony’s online game store now. Another celebrated zombie series, Resident Evil, is getting ready for a release of the multiplayer title Re:Verse, and a Resident Evil 4 remake. The celebrated zombie series even got the Netflix treatment this summer, with a live-action TV series of the same name released on the streaming platform.
Another zombie staple is The Walking Dead, which is currently airing its 11th season. The show originally based on the comic book series has inspired a whole slew of zombie video games throughout the years, such as the episodic graphic adventure by Telltale Games that has been making rounds around the world, with different languages such as Simplified Chinese and Portuguese supported. And zombies have even inspired casino games. Slot machines are a popular pastime around the globe, with players from all regions nowadays playing the classic games online via large game libraries on international casino platforms. Experts create reviews of the best online casinos for players from specific regions, such as Thailand, who can even find the best online casino reviews known as รีวิวคาสิโนออนไลน์ in their own language. It proves the international appeal of the classic games as well as the global zombie hype, as the undead lurch onto the reels of online slots such as The Walking Dead and the Wild Walker online slots on the best-rated online platforms around the globe. The zombie hype is real, and HBO is adding fuel to the fire and letting the undead rise once again.
The Last of Us will hit streaming services sometime in 2023, and fans of the games and anyone hungry for zombies can’t wait to see the heart-wrenching story come to life on our screens.