The Last of Us Episode 1: Curtis and Viper 2 explained

The Last of Us Episode 1 features a great Easter Egg for fans of the game with Curtis and Viper 2 – but what is it? If you’ve not played the game, we can explain.

The first episode of The Last of Us is stellar. “It achieves the impossible: adapting one of the greatest – if not the greatest – video game of all time with respect, flair, and reaching heart-breaking greatness,” we wrote in our review.

The show follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), an unlikely duo forced to work together on a treacherous cross-country trip across America amid a deadly, monstrous fungal pandemic.

Before we get to that, we see Joel and Sarah’s final hours together on Outbreak Day in 2003, where they watch a movie together – so, what is Curtis and Viper 2?

The Last of Us Episode 1: What is Curtis and Viper 2?

Curtis and Viper 2 is the second movie in Joel’s favorite ’80s franchise. In the show, Sarah borrows the DVD – with the deleted scenes, of course – so she can watch it with her dad on his birthday.

Posters for the same movie were also spotted on the HBO show’s set, which you can see here.

Players can find a poster for Curtis and Viper 4 in The Last of Us Part II, and Ellie also explains the plot to Dina. If you haven’t played the games, don’t worry – we’re not going to spoil anything, we’re just going to relay Ellie’s description of the film.

“Okay, so two former commandos that go rogue to fight bad guys. And I think in this one, they go up against Russian spies or something,” she says.

“All right, so the young one, Viper, he’s a trained ninja. And he’s a complete badass.”

Dina asks how old he is in the first movie, and Ellie replies: “Uh, 10.” She then reveals there’s a total of four movies in the series, and Joel saw the final film in the cinema.

The Last of Us Episode 2 will be available to watch on January 22 in the US and January 23 in the UK.

For more TLOU content, check out some of our below guides:

Joel & Tess explained | Sarah spoilers | Fungus threat is terrifying | The dog’s fate | Who is Marlene? | Why is Ellie so important? | Soundtrack choice | FEDRA & the Fireflies explained