HBO revealed the first footage of its television adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us on Sunday, offering fans a brief glimpse of the series slated to arrive in 2023. And it is brief — roughly 20 seconds of a trailer dedicated to showcasing what’s coming to HBO Max in the coming months and next year is focused on The Last of Us and its stars, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
Like previous glimpses of The Last of Usthe teaser trailer appears exceedingly faithful to the PlayStation games. Ramsey, as Ellie, and Pascal, as Joel, recreate a heated moment of dialogue from Naughty Dog’s video game, and the heartbreaking opening of The Last of Us featuring Joel’s daughter makes a brief appearance. The footage also teases the fungal remains of a Clicker and gives us a brief glimpse of Nick Offerman as Bill.
The Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie as they make their way through a post-apocalyptic United States that’s been ravaged by a mysterious disease that transforms people into dangerous monsters. Along the way they meet all kinds of characters, some friendly, and many others that are just as dangerous as the infected they’re running from.
The series is created by Craig Mazin, the creator and writer behind HBO’s Chernobyland executive produced by Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dogthe studio that developed both The Last of Us video games. The series will also star Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate) as Tommy and Anna Torv (Mindhunter) as Tess. The Last of Us will feature 10 episodes in its first season. There’s been no official announcement of a second season.