A fresh photo on Naughty Dog’s Twitter account shows a significant alteration to “The Last of Us”. The highly anticipated series is based on the same-named PlayStation video game released in 2013. Pedro Pascal plays Joel, Bella Ramsey plays Ellie, Gabriel Luna plays Tommy, and Storm Reid plays Riley in “The Last of Us”. Neil Druckmann, the game’s director, will serve as an executive producer on the series, with Craig Mazin, the creator of HBO’s Chernobyl.
“The Last of Us“ is set in 2033, where Joel, a hardened father who lost his daughter at the start of a post-apocalyptic epidemic, is forced to travel across the country with Ellie, a young girl who is resistant to the virus, in order to locate a cure. Along the way, the two collaborate to combat mutated Cordyceps, a pandemic consequence. “The Last of Us” has earned widespread praise for its story, character development, and portrayal of LGBT characters, as well as encouraging the creation of additional games such as Star Wars: Eclipse.
Changes will occur as a result of the adaptation of a hugely popular video game. One of the first important adjustments was reported by NaughtyDogInfo | News. Rather than occurring in 2023, the virus epidemic will now occur in 2003, 20 years before it did in the game. The tweet itself provides a mysterious explanation for the change.
Fun fact: HBO’s The Last of Us will change its outbreak year from 2013 to 2003 meaning – the events of TLOU will take place in 2023 instead of 2033. I wonder why this change was made? 🤔#TheLastofUs #HBO pic.twitter.com/CdBy0QO6ML
— NaughtyDogInfo | News (@NaughtyDogInfo) February 1, 2022
The cryptic look at the date in the tweet suggests that there’s more to this adjustment than merely relocating it so that the film’s primary events can take place in the current day. The most plausible cause is that the viral pandemic occurs in 2023 in the game. Given that the world is now experiencing its own global pandemic with COVID-19, it makes it appropriate to place the viral breakout earlier in the game, as it not only distinguishes COVID from the apocalyptic virus but also allows for interesting connections between fiction and reality.
Adaptations are bound to change in order to maintain a continuous tale or to fit the story into another medium while yet enabling it to remain its own thing. Movies like Uncharted, another Naughty Dog adaptation, alter the age of its main character, Nathan Drake, to fit actor Tom Holland, or alter the way Nathan and Sully meet. It’s crucial to remember, nevertheless, that adaptations are separate from the original source. In order to produce anything new, changes may be required. Fans may rest certain that the adaptation will keep loyal to the original game while still generating something new when “The Last of Us” airs in 2022, as the game’s director also serves as the show’s executive producer as well as one of the writers and directors.