The Last of Us: HBOs Opportunity To Do More.

Here we go again! Another studio is going to make the attempt to adapt video games to film. It’s been done too many times before to very little success. I tend to roll my eyes every time I hear of another video game movie or TV show popping up. They usually end up being quick cash grabs and rarely offer anything enjoyable. The Last of Us will be the next adventure down this bleak road.

Wait a Dern Minute!

So, you can imagine my cynicism kicking into high gear the moment they did the initial Sonic reveal. Then they announced a series adaptation of The Witcher. Wait! The Witcher was good? Sonic was revamped and turned out ok? What is actually happening?

What is this feeling I have now? Is this hope or optimism? I am really looking forward to the next attempt of adapting a video game to TV with Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. If there was a game that fit into the low hanging fruit category, I really feel like The Last of Us is that game.

I never really thought the game play of The Last of Us was all that impressive. I didn’t care for the generic stealth and melee combat. However, the story, the world, the characters all made those game play factors irrelevant. I wanted more of this world and the game play just felt like a barrier to seeing more of what The Last of Us had to offer.

HBOs Influence

Now we have game director Neil Druckmann teaming up with HBO Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. If you haven’t seen Chernobyl go watch the series because it’s amazing. The team up of Neil and Craig looks to be a great combination that can deliver a strong product for HBO.

HBO has a strong track record for delivering well received shows and miniseries. Game of Thrones anyone? Band of Brothers, West World, Boardwalk Empire, and now count Chernobyl among those. This bodes well for The Last of Us as they will have a strong budget, good casting, and strong production values. The Last of Us has the potential to be the next big show to join an already impressive resume.

Casting

Casting has yet to be announced for The Last of Us, but that hasn’t stopped the internet from speculating on which actors will take on the roles of the main characters. Many fans are asking for the original voice actors to reprise their role for the HBO series. Others are asking for Hugh Jackman and Maise Williams to take up the roles of Ellie and Joel. I personally like the idea of Josh Brolin as Joel and maybe an unnamed young girl getting their big break playing young Ellie. Either way I have a lot of confidence they will get a strong cast together for the show.

Story

The story is the clear strength of The Last of Us and its why a show might work. Where will it begin though? Will we see a lot of story leading up to the events of the game? Will it be separate from the game itself? Neil has confirmed in interviews they would keep the core of the characters intact so it is likely that it will be a mix of expanding story elements that still encapsulate the core story of the game. I think we will see more events that took place prior to the events of the game and will get an expansion of story elements that happen concurrently with the game. Taking this approach will lead to a strong season one and it’ll bring in fans that haven’t played the game at all including non-video game fans.

The timing the series announcement is perfect due to the upcoming release of the second game. I don’t think the first season will hit any of the story elements contained in The Last of Us 2. That can pose a problem for the series since they will be playing catch up with the games for the first couple of seasons assuming the series lasts.

The creators might look to incorporate some of the stories from the lesser-known comic series as well. The Last of Us: American Dreams expands the story of the first game and explores some additional characters in this terrifying world. I really hope they add some of this material in, but I won’t spoil it, go read for yourself.

When Will The Pandemic Take Us?

Building a strong series will take some time, and I don’t believe we will get the show any time soon. Optimistically, I would say we might get the series by the end of 2021. However, I feel early 2022 is much more likely. For reference, many shows air roughly a year and a half to two years after their announcements. You know what? That’s ok. Sure we all want to see what they can do now, but it’s best to let the creators take their time. Let them put together something that will strike a chord with fans just like the video game did. Just as long as they maintain the real gritty and dark themes of the game.

Scepticism For Good Reason.

I still have a bit of scepticism in me, but I am optimistic that this can really help change the tune of how video game adaptations come to fruition. Just imagine what other amazing games could make it to screens. Now there is one final caveat to this, and it is imperative that I address why many adaptations fail and it is not just poor vision or production value.

Video games can do something that no other medium can and it is often overlooked, ignored, or completely misunderstood. Video games can make you experience something because you are directly involved in the outcome. The stories carry so much weight because we spend hours upon hours with the characters and their struggles. We get attached in ways we just can’t with regular movies, television, or books. This difference in capabilities sets games apart and it is why we will struggle to truly get successful video game adaptations.

There are some narrative-heavy games that are the best candidates but those are still questionable in how well they will translate. I hope for the best because I love video games and many of their stories, but my scepticism remains. I really want The Last of Us and any other game adaptations to be good but taking away the key experience factor is a big part of what made these IPs great to begin with.

Here’s hoping for the best and if it doesn’t work out our games will be there waiting for us like they always have.