Pedro Pascal became one of the biggest names on the small screen as star of The Mandalorian, but now the actor has landed a new show that will involve jumping from Disney+ back to his old HBO stomping grounds. Pascal will play the lead role in the highly-anticipated HBO series adaptation of The Last Of Us, and he'll be joined by another Game of Thrones veteran, this one a bit of a fan-favorite.
The Last Of Us will be based on the acclaimed Sony Playstation video game of the same name and star Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey (best known as the brave Lady Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones) as Ellie. The project will join the forces of two actors who had fan-favorite roles on Game of Thrones before being brutally killed off, but Pascal and Ramsey never shared scenes for Thrones. Based on the source material for The Last Of Us, they'll definitely be sharing a lot of scenes for the new show.
In The Last Of Us, Pedro Pascal's Joel is a hardened survivor two decades after the collapse of modern society, and he takes on the challenge of smuggling Bella Ramsey's 14-year-old Ellie out what Deadline describes as "an oppressive quarantine zone." The job turns into a journey that takes them across the United States, with only each other to depend on to survive. Plagued by his own failures and trauma, Joel will have to cross an America that has been ravaged by a pandemic while protecting Ellie, with Ellie representing that "last hope of humanity."
While Pedro Pascal proved with The Mandalorian that he can play a begrudgingly paternal figure fighting his way through various missions to protect a child in his care, The Last Of Us' Joel and Ellie almost certainly are not going to be interchangeable with Mando and Baby Yoda, and not just because Ellie is going to be played by a person rather than a puppet.
Still, Pedro Pascal joining such a highly-anticipated series as the headliner does raise the question of what his future in the Star Wars franchise looks like. He reportedly received offers from top streaming services and networks after recently becoming available for a new series, but he is expected to continue with Star Wars series as well.
Considering The Mandalorian production could technically get away with somebody around Pedro Pascal's height and build wearing the actual armor with Pascal recording the dialogue later, it's not inconceivable that Pascal could headline not one but two big series at the same time. Pascal actually responded to rumors that he demanded to show his face more as Mando in Season 2 back in December, and he shared that he just wants the Mandalorian team to make the best show possible.
As for Bella Ramsey, she recently appeared in several episodes of His Dark Materials, so she hasn't been a stranger to HBO shows even after poor Lyanna Mormont was killed in Game of Thrones' final season. The Last Of Us is coming to TV courtesy of Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and The Last Of Us video game writer Neil Druckmann.
No details are available just yet as to when The Last Of Us will be ready for HBO, but the official castings relatively early in the year could mean viewers will have something to see in 2021.For some viewing options in the meantime, check out our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule.
