Grab your packs and prepare to fight the Infected because The Last of Us, HBO’s take on the popular video game, has just dropped its first official trailer!
Inspired by the Naughty Dog game of the same name The Last of Us stars Pedro Pascal as Joe, the smuggler tasked with escorting Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a teenager with a special genetic gift, across the post-apocalyptic American countryside. In the series and the game, a dangerous fungus has infected the majority of the population turning them into mindless and aggressive zombies. Ellie is special because something in her DNA makes her uniquely immune to the infection. In point of fact, she was bitten by an infected but did not transform. Joe’s task is to take Ellie out of the Quarantine Zone in Massachusetts and all the way to Salt Lake City where a rebel militia group known as “Fireflies” are working on a vaccine. And they think Ellie is the key to unlocking it. Along the way Ellie and Joe must fight infected, Quarantine Zone officials, and even cannibals (along with their own traumas), in order to reach their destination. But what will they face, and what hard choices must be made when they get there?
The game was a huge hit for its stunning and unique take on the fungus laden infected, along with its third-person gameplay and willingness to tackle tough thematic elements like PTSD and the bleakness and brutality of a post-apocalyptic United States. The internet was set ablaze when they announced Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey (both former Game of Thrones alums) had been cast as Joe and Ellie.
The new trailer looks very promising, with plenty of banter and chemistry between Pascal and Ramsey to lighten an otherwise extremely dark story. However, I can not believe they used this warped, re-mixed version of A-ha’s “Take On Me!” Upsetting and unacceptable! Much like the Cordyceps fungus, I will never get it out of my head.
The Last of Us will premiere on HBO Max on Jan 15, 2023 and we will see you there!
(Image: HBOMax)
