The Last of Us may reveal who Ellie’s dad is in future seasons
HBOEllie’s mother was given much more depth in The Last of Us show, and there’s a chance her father could be given the same treatment.
The Last of Us is continuing to be one of the best franchises out there, with two stellar games, comics, and now an amazing first season of an HBO show. You can check out our review for the finale here, but spoiler alert: it’s great.
The finale managed to stand out due to the appearance of Ellie’s late mother, Anna – played by Ashley Johnson, no less – which expanded upon the character. However, no mention of Ellie’s father was made.
But this could all be set to change in future seasons. Obviously, Joel has become Ellie’s surrogate dad, but we’re talking about her actual biological father. So read on, but first, potential The Last of Us spoilers ahead…
Ellie’s dad almost appeared in his own video game
In all of The Last of Us games that have been released, Ellie’s father is never mentioned, with only Ellie saying “Where are anyone’s parents?” at one point in regards to him. Ellie was an orphan, and never got to meet either of her parents, and this continues on into the HBO show.
However, this wasn’t always the plan. In an interview with Variety, game and show creator Neil Druckmann revealed that like the Left Behind DLC, he originally had another prequel game scripted, which would have involved both of Ellie’s parents.
Anna – who only appears in the game as a written letter – was originally going to star in her own game or animated short: “I wrote this short script about Ellie’s mom, and how she gave birth to Ellie and was bitten at the same time – and wasn’t sure if she was infected during that birth,” Druckmann stated.
“And it became this little character drama that spoke to the same themes of parental love for their child and how much you’re willing to do, even when you’re on death’s door.”
Talking about Anna’s death scene at the beginning of the TV show’s finale, Druckmann said: “There was some stuff written for the mom and dad when we were talking to this other game studio to potentially do a whole Anna game, the climax of which was this scene.
“So I’m reluctant to say anything about it, because as I’ve now found out several times, stories that I think are failures and will never see the light of day, sometimes see the light of day.”
Ultimately, the scene in the show where an infected Anna gives birth to Ellie before begging Marlene (Merle Dandridge) to kill her was going to be it’s own prequel game, one that would also involve Ellie’s father at some point. And considering that this unseen game has now been partly shown in the HBO series, this could mean that more prequel material could be explored in future seasons, including Ellie’s biological father.
There is also the question of who would play Ellie’s father. Since Ashley Johnson – who voiced Ellie in the games – was cast as Anna, it seems likely that her father would be played by someone significant to the game as well. One fun choice would have been Troy Baker, who plays Ellie’s surrogate dad Joel in the game, but alas, his character has already been cast – and killed – in the show.
The Last of Us Season 1 is now available to stream in its entirety. You can check out the rest of our coverage here and find out more about Season 2 here.