HBO has acquired the rights to make a The Last of Us television series. Previously, a movie was in the works, but the project was canceled and fell flat after studios kept pushing for bigger action sequences during the writing process which took the story too far out of The Last of Us world. If HBO's The Last of Us is to succeed, it will need to do a few things and get certain scenes done right.
Although it would be foolish to assume that the tv series will be exactly scene-for-scene word-for-word identical to the game series, the writers need to make sure they don't leave out the most important moments. Some side characters could be combined into one to make the story easier to digest, but the main characters—Ellie and Joel—need to resemble the original characters and have the same story beats as the game series. Actors Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal, and Gabriel Luna have already been cast as Ellie, Joel, and Tommy.
Craig Mazin, who created the series Chernobyl, will be working on the series. Fans of the game can rest assured knowing that Neil Druckmann will be serving as creative director for the show. Neil Druckmann, creator of the game, will also lead the writing team. Despite this, HBO will be making a few changes to the story. Druckmann says that although there will be similar story beats as in the game, the studio will still be making a few changes.
But if the series doesn't want to get low ratings, the show will need to capture the relationship of Ellie and Joel like the game did. They are the center of the story and must not be changed in terms of personality or identifying character traits. Joel and Ellie form a very close bond, and Joel will do anything to protect her even though she is immune to the virus. Since Joel has lost his daughter, he will die before he lets any harm come to Ellie. This aspect of their relationship is crucial to the story.
Joel is a smuggler in the world of the apocalypse and has to take Ellie to the Fireflies where she will be tested to find a cure for the pandemic. But during their journey across the wasteland, Joel becomes more like a father to Ellie. When he and Ellie reach their location, Ellie is taken. Joel doesn't waste any time and kills anyone he has to in order to protect her. The devotion to Ellie, even at the risk of the entire world, makes Joel's love for her tangible to the game's players. HBO will above all else need to translate the bond they form between each other.
Another thing HBO must get right is the moral dilemma Ellie faces knowing that Joel took away her choice to possibly save everyone in the world as well as the unspoken knowledge Ellie has the Joel killed all those people at the lab. But for Joel, his actions cannot go unpunished. The scene that had gamers all over the internet talking for months will need to be set up in the television series to show Ellie and Joel's situation well enough for the scene to have the same emotional impact.
The second game in the series does a good job of forcing the player into the perspective of Abby to see that from her point of view, it is Ellie and Joel who are the villains. Players only feel for Joel and Ellie more because they knew them before Abby and her dad, and it is Ellie and Joel's experience they have in their memories. Depending on when the writers choose to present Abby's character can make or break that idea the game introduced in The Last of Us II. Of course, saving her character reveal till later will give audience members who are unfamiliar with the game a similar shock that gamers felt during the opening sequences of the game.
The show could go one of two ways: introduce Abby's character early on so audiences will not know who to side with, or wait to reveal her. That way they could do a similar thing to the game and have a second or third season all from Abby's perspective. Viewers will of course feel hatred for Abby for ruining Ellie and Joel's relationship at first, but humanizing Abby will pique viewers' interests more once they've already established their negative opinions on her. The show needs to capture Abby's desperation for revenge for Joel killing her father just as well as Ellie's.
The Last Of Us introduces several characters that are LGBTQ+ that have allowed gamers everywhere to feel included. The show needs to make sure it doesn't overlook these aspects of the story. HBO needs to properly express Ellie and Joel's relationship with each other. And Abby's character needs to be handle with care so that audiences can decide for themselves if she is the villain or if Joel is. The game's themes of love, friendship, and tragic revenge need to be portrayed with great care in order for the show to succeed.