I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a pretty big fan of The Last of Us. For years, I’ve loved playing this game from start to finish because the story is one of my favorites. That and everything else has made it truly one of my favorite games of all time, from the gameplay to the graphics and everything else in-between. So when I found out that a TV series was going to be made, I was all on board, along with a few others.
And now, after we’ve been teased with behind-the-scenes videos and first looks and the occasional teaser, the first official trailer has been released, and I am even more excited. From the moment I watched this trailer, there were so many things that made me even more excited. HBO I think has knocked it out of the park with this one – here are some things I am so excited about.
This Show Looks Like It’s Going To Be Absolutely Stunning
I mean, the graphics in the first The Last of Us game were legendary. If you look back when it originally came out *adjusts glasses* almost ten years ago (wow, it’s been that long?), the graphics were ahead of its time. While PlayStation exclusive games have always been known to have stellar graphics, The Last of Us was special in the way it showed the scenery we would experience as we went across the United States.
But man, the cinematography in this show, just from the trailer, looks outstanding. There are so many shots that look like they are straight out of the game, which is how you know that the series was made by people who love it, but there are other shots that are just outstanding. I mean, that one shot of Ellie and Joel walking across a field as the sun shines over them, or that shot of them crossing a wooden plank in the city – stunning.
It Looks Like We’re Going To See More Of The Boston Quarantine Zone
In the grand scheme of the original game, trying to see more of the Boston Quarantine Zone – where we start our main story – was never one of my concerns, but I think in the show, we’re going to get the chance to see more of it. While we get the typical story shots of the zone, it looks like we’re going to not only be getting the inclusion of Ellie’s backstory, but more on Anna, who literally lives in the Quarantine Zone with Marlene at the time.
It’s exciting to think that we might be getting way more than we thought we would, but since there are only nine episodes, I’m holding out hope that at least one of the episodes focuses more on the zone they start off in.
Joel And Ellie Seem Like They’re Going To Be Bonding More Than In The Game
I’m not even going to start on how perfect the casting of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey is, because wow, they look amazing. I have to admit, I was one of the people who was a little hesitant about it at first but the more we see from these trailers and first-looks, the more excited I am.
It looks like there’s a whole lot more between these two in the trailer than there is in the game. For fans of the game, a big portion of those winter scenes didn’t feature Joel, so it seems like he might be included more with Ellie in the story. Also, seeing the Northern Lights was never in the game – I need to see these bonding scenes, because I know it’s just going to make my love for them even bigger.
We Might Get To See Anna’s Backstory
Anna is a character in The Last of Us that we never see in the game. We know she was a friend of Marlene’s, and that she’s Ellie’s mother, but other than that, we never see her because she’s long gone by the time we start the game. However, it looks like in the trailer we just might get some backstory on her. Honestly, thank God. Because I’ve always wanted to know more about Ellie’s mother.
Also, the fact that Anna is played by Ashley Johnson, who does the voice and motion-capture for Ellie in the video games, is a real full-circle moment and I love that for her.
I Can’t Believe They Included Left Behind In The Show
Left Behind, for those who don’t know, is a DLC that was released after the original The Last of Us game, and featured the backstory of Ellie and how she got bitten alongside her best friend, Riley. While I was a little bit spoiled to this when I was doing The Last of Us cast list, since I knew Riley was cast, I had no idea it was going to be as big as seems to be.
We see them in the mall that is featured in Left Behind in the trailer, and not only that, but we see Riley and Ellie taking pictures, another thing they do in Left Behind, and it feels like they’re going to bring that whole story to the show and I am so excited. We might even get to experience more of them on screen than we did in the DLC, and I am here for it.
We’re Finally Going To See Frank And Bill’s Backstory
YES.
FINALLY.
Bill and Frank’s story was one of the most mysterious of the original game. It was confirmed that Bill is gay in the game, and that his “partner” was Frank, but we never see Frank in the game – just his body left behind. Other than that, we really know nothing about who he is, or who Frank was to Bill. We could sort of assume that they might have been romantic partners, but it’s never been confirmed.
And now, we’re finally going to get a backstory that features on them. I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to learn more about them, and the fact that Bill and Frank are played by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett makes it even better. That literal one second clip has me almost as hyped as when I found out about the series in the first place.
Oh My God, There’s A Bloater – We’re Getting Every Kind Of Zombie
In the world of The Last of Us, there are four types of zombies (at first, at least). There are runners, stalkers, clickers and bloaters. Bloaters are the most dangerous. Runners (at least in the game) could literally be punched to death, which makes them the easiest. While I knew we were getting clickers in the show from the previous teaser, this trailer confirmed we are getting every zombie – especially a bloater.
That’s right, a freaking bloater. Those monsters that you literally need, like, three molotov cocktails to take down and twelve shotgun shells – plus pistol ammo if you’re me and run out so quickly. And it looks so good and freaking terrifying. I love it.
While The Last of Us is already such a beloved franchise, I can’t wait for it to be introduced in a whole new medium and to a new audience of people to enjoy. Who knows? This might be the start of a bunch of future video games to get made into TV shows. I have so much hope for a video game adaptation for the first time in my life.
