The Last of Us creators hint at changes made in HBO show

The Last of Us is launching on TV soon, and the show’s creators have been discussing the story changes that they’ve made.

The Last of Us, one of the most acclaimed titles of the 2010s and a generation-defining game, is being given the prestige, big-budget television treatment on HBO. But inevitably, changes to the story are being made.

Developed by the game’s creator and Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann, alongside Chernobyl maestro Craig Mazin, it’s one of the most anticipated TV events of 2023, bringing the “best video game story ever told” to the screen.

The original game follows Joel and Ellie on a life-or-death, cross-country trip across an America ravaged by a brutal virus, which the series is seemingly going to follow. However, since this story is being told in TV form, naturally some things are going to change in translation. So what do we know so far will be changing?

What has been changed in The Last of Us HBO show?

Now, as the series hasn’t come out yet, we can’t compare the two, but we’ll keep track of the changes as the series goes on, so stay tuned!

For now, there have been some hints from the game and series creators, Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, which they revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

One change that was revealed was about the timeline in the series, with the show apparently spending a lot of time flashing back to the past of the initial outbreak, likely giving more depth to Joel’s backstory.

“One of the nice things about television is you get to begin and end [characters’ stories] over and over again, and beginnings and endings are the best,” stated Mazin.

Not only that, but according to the article, The Last of Us “does a trick that HBO seems to regularly pull off: Just when you think you know exactly what the show is, there’s an episode that rises well above expectation. In this case, this head-turning hour arrives early, with its third episode. No spoilers, but it involves a fan-favorite character from the game – a hard-core survivalist named Bill (Nick Offerman) – and some radical changes to the game’s story that will shock and perhaps challenge fans.”

This may be due to the character of Frank (Murray Bartlett), as we can see in the trailer that he will likely have a much more significant role than he did in the game.

However, while the article hints at more changes, it praises the show’s faithfulness to the game overall, and quotes Druckmann on his concern about getting the adaptation right. Since videos games have a sordid history of failed screen translations, this project has a lot weighing on its shoulders:

“People see bad adaptations and it adds credence to the idea that games are childish,” he says. “I love the idea that someone could watch this and be moved by it and then be like, ‘Wait, that’s based on the video game?'”

Mazin adds: “I don’t want to see the story done poorly any more than [the game’s fans] do. Give us the chance, I think they will be just as rewarded – in a different way, but just as rewarded.”

The Last of Us will premiere on HBO on January 15. You can find out more about the show here, and check out the rest of our coverage here.