This week the series The Last of Us, based on the popular video game of the same name, arrives on the HBO Max subscription service. Specifically, it will premiere this Monday, January 16, and will have a first season of nine episodes. Behind this series is the creator of Chernobyl, Craig Mazin, along with one of the directors of the original game, Neil Druckmann. So it’s easy to ensure not only the quality of the series but also the fidelity to the original work.
Next, we review the most outstanding details of the The Last of Us series, everything you need to know before entering this post-apocalyptic world accompanied by Joel and Ellie.
What is ‘The Last of Us’?
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The Last of Us is an exclusive PlayStation video game saga developed by the Californian studio Naughty Dog. The first installment was published in June 2013 for PlayStation 3, while the second part came to PS4 in June 2020. In addition to the two main titles, the saga also has a small prequel expansion for the first game called Left behind.
After the original release of The Last of Us, it quickly became one of the most successful and beloved games on PlayStation, enamoring critics and audiences alike. Naughty Dog’s work set a new precedent for how to tell stories in big-budget video games, dealing with complex themes and with excellent performances. This feeling of a masterpiece was transferred directly to the second installment, which also caused a sensation among the public.
Imagen de ‘The Last of Us Parte I’
Naughty Dog
Recently, in September 2022, Sony relaunched The Last of Us for PlayStation 5 with a deep facelift that adapted the experience to the current generation of consoles.
The story (no spoilers)
The story of The Last of Us (the video game) begins in September 2013, when an outbreak of a fungus called Cordyceps unleashes a pandemic that turns those infected into a kind of zombie. At that moment, we are introduced to the protagonist of the adventure, Joel, who tries to flee the chaos and the city with his daughter Sarah and his brother Sam.
The action then moves 20 years forward, to 2033, and shows Joel who has gotten used to living as a smuggler in the safe cities of the United States. At that time he receives a commission from the Luciernagas, a terrorist organization that fights against the State. They ask Joel to take a girl, Ellie, out of town. Things get complicated, you know, with zombies, terrorists and an extreme police state, it’s hard for plans to go right the first time. And the story then takes Joel and Ellie to cross the country from coast to coast on a year-long journey.
The Last of Us series adapts the story of the first video game, although the dates have been changed to make everything more current: the outbreak takes place in 2003 and Joel and Ellie’s adventure takes place in 2023. In addition, Craig and Druckmann have decided to spend more time on some secondary characters, thus delving into their stories and their development throughout the adventure.
The cast
Image of Joel, Ellie and Tess in the series ‘The Last of Us’
HBO
The cast of The Last of Us series is full of familiar faces. To begin with, the role of Joel is for Pedro Pascal, known for his appearances in series such as The Mandalorian, Narcos and Game of Thrones, among many others. And, precisely from Game of Thrones, the actress who gives life to Ellie also comes out, Bella Ramsey, who played the young Lyanna Mormont from the universe of George RR Martin.
Beyond the leading couple, there are other interesting actors among the cast. Joel’s brother Tommy is played by Gabriel Luna, who played Ghost Rider in the Agents of SHIELD series and the villain in Terminator: Dark Fate. On the other hand, Anna Torv is Tess, Joel’s smuggler partner, and Nico Parker plays Joel’s daughter, Sarah.
Image of Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the series ‘The Last of Us’
HBO
dubbing
The fans of the video game who enjoyed it in its Spanish version are in luck because HBO has confirmed that the dubbing actors of the series will be the same as those of the video game. This means that the voices will be the same as in the original work, with similar performances, thus bridging the gap between the game and the series. Lorenzo Beteta returns as Joel, María Blanco as Ellie, Claudio Serrano as Tommy and Conchi López as Tess.
This news came a few weeks ago and made most of the fans of the game in Spain very happy. Many people enjoyed the title in 2013 for PS3 or in 2014 for PS4 in its dubbed version and having these same voices now in the HBO series unlocks a powerful feeling of nostalgia.
Premiere and platforms
The Last of Us series will premiere this Monday, January 16 on the HBO Max subscription service. This means that it will take the place of The House of the Dragon and that a new episode will premiere every Monday for the next two months. In total, it will have nine chapters of approximately 50 minutes in length, as is usual in this type of series. The only exception is the first episode, which will last an hour and a half, in the style of the new season of Stranger Things.
Initially, the first season of The Last of Us was supposed to have 10 episodes, but it was finally reduced to nine during the post-production phases. The budget of the series goes up to 100 million dollars and, taking into account that there is already a second part of the video game, it is very likely that the series will have one or two more seasons.
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The Last of Us
Marc Brugat
Albert Garcia
Albert Garcia
