Why The Last of Us Changed Ellie’s Infection for the HBO Max Show
Ellie #Ellie
HBO’s The Last of Us might delve into Ellie’s immunity to the cordyceps infection.
Co-showrunner Neil Druckmann spoke with BuzzFeed on how adapting his and Bruce Straley’s acclaimed PlayStation 3 game for television allowed him to expand upon its post-apocalyptic lore. “We’re able to do a deeper dive on certain explanations of how the infection spread. In the game, it’s just hinted at. Here, we’re able to flesh it out a bit more and get into specifics of why certain decisions were made — like bombing the outskirts of a quarantine zone in hopes of trying to push the infection out,” he said. Another unique component, Druckmann revealed, will be, “how Ellie is infected and what that means — we did a bit more research and had something that’s more scientifically plausible than what was in the game.”
RELATED: HBO’s The Last of Us Introduces a Scary New Feature of the Virus
HBO’s The Last of Us Reveals Ellie’s Backstory
Following The Last of Us’ 2013 release, developer Naughty Dog explored the backstory for Ellie’s infection in its DLC campaign The Last of Us: Left Behind. Written by Druckmann, Left Behind follows Ellie and her friend/love interest Riley as they sneak into an abandoned mall for the night, only to eventually discover multiple Infected living there. The mall was briefly referenced in the HBO show’s second episode, and official The Last of Us trailers confirmed that scenes from Left Behind will be adapted sometime in its nine-episode run. Storm Reid, who recently appeared in the screenlife film Missing, will play The Last of Us’ live-action Riley opposite Bella Ramsey’s Ellie.
In addition to its game moments, The Last of Us’ first two episodes opened with prologue sequences — one set in 1968, the other in 2003 in Jakarta, Indonesia — where scientists explained why the Cordyceps outbreak could not be controlled. The show will also adapt content that never made it into Druckmann’s original video game, such as a focus on Ellie’s deceased mother, Anna. According to Druckmann, “I had written a short story after we had shipped the game already. It was supposed to be an animated short, but it fell apart and didn’t come to be.”
RELATED: The Last of Us: American Dreams is the Perfect Prequel to the HBO Series
HBO’s The Last of Us Earns Rave Reviews
Reviews for HBO’s The Last of Us have been overwhelmingly positive, with critics dubbing it one of the best game adaptations ever made. It’s also been a ratings success, with The Last of Us’ first and second episodes receiving 4.7 million and 5.7 million viewers each across HBO and HBO Max. Following the series premiere, HBO released a companion podcast hosted by voice actor Troy Baker, who interviews Druckmann and Craig Mazin each week about their show’s latest episode.
New episodes of The Last of Us premiere every Sunday at 9 pm EST on HBO and HBO Max.
Source: BuzzFeed