HBO’s official trailer for The last of us shows the dynamic between Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as the two traverse a post-apocalyptic US amid the outbreak of a mutated fungus that turns humans into zombie-like creatures. It offers a much more detailed look at the dangers the two face compared to the previous teaser, including a brief glimpse of the infected themselves.
Like the PlayStation game of the same name, the series escorts Joel Ellie, who is immune to the fungus, across the country in hopes of finding a cure for the outbreak. The trailer flashes between scenes of dialogue with Storm Reid as Ellie’s friend Riley and Nick Offerman as Bill. At the end of the trailer, we see a series of barnacle-covered creatures creep up from a fire pit before starting to run towards the camera.
From what I can tell, it looks like the show has stayed true to the mold zombies design and delivered a phenomenal cast, which makes the series seem all the more promising. If you watch this trailer closely enough, you might even see Ellie’s voice actress in the game, Ashley Johnson, who plays Ellie’s mother.
The last of us comes from Chernobyl creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. It lands on HBO Max on January 15, 2023.