HBOs The last of us has just received the first trailer, highlighting the many Easter eggs and reenacting scenes from the video game in the upcoming show. The The last of us adaptation was announced in 2020 and then developed by Craig Mazin, creator of the critically acclaimed Chernobyl series on HBO, and Neil Druckmann, who directed the original game in 2013. Druckmann’s involvement with the show is probably one of the main reasons behind the show’s obvious allegiance to the The last of us game, because he has a great passion for the world he originally created with Bruce Straley.
This wedding from HBO’s The last of us is evident throughout the entire first trailer of the show, although it has also been apparent since the beginning of its development. The show’s first depiction of Joel and Ellie was a testament to this dedication, as the two wore nearly identical clothes to their video game counterparts. The trailer for The last of us goes even further and shows some familiar scenes with the characters from the games.
The references also extend beyond Joel and Ellie, with the first trailer for The The last of us featuring many characters, locations, and creatures from the original video games. This still proves how important fidelity to the years 2013 is The last of us game was in the making of the series adaptation. That said, here’s each scene and respective Easter eggs straight from the source material for HBO’s The last of us and his first trailer.
Joel and Sarah from the opening scene of The Last Of Us
The opening scene in the The last of us video game in which Joel and his daughter Sarah, along with his brother Tommy, try to escape Austin after the initial outbreak of the cordyceps infection. The trailer for the The last of us show presents an almost exact depiction of this scene, albeit with some exaggerated aspects befitting the TV medium, such as a plane falling from the sky and exploding. The game depicts these events through the eyes of Sarah, who is controlled by the player, and the trailer for the series features a scene where Sarah looks out of the back of Tommy’s pickup truck, framed almost identically to the game level. Beyond this, some iconic footage of Joel carrying Sarah in his arms to escape the infected is also featured in the trailer for the show, seemingly ripped straight from the game.
Other aspects prove how the scenes are almost identical. From the setting, with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Sarah (Bella Ramsey) escaping the infected through downtown Austin and it’s the middle of the night, to the frantic, panicked tone of the scene, the inspiration is clear. An Easter egg that references the opening scene of the game comes through the second shot of Joel in the trailer. The camera pans from a broken watch worn by Joel to his face. That watch is a reference to the watch Sarah gave him for his birthday in the opening sequence and is something Joel wears throughout the game.
Fireflies logo and leader appear in The Last Of Us trailer
Another Easter egg nodding to the games shows a graffiti logo being painted over. The logo is that of the Fireflies, a revolutionary militia group from the games. Next to this logo, later in the trailer, is Marlene, leader of the Fireflies and one of The last of us‘s main characters. In the show, Marlene is played by Merle Dandridge, who created the character in the game. This is another cool Easter egg as she is the same actor reprising the role. Another nod in the trailer is Marlene’s stomach wound, which she also has when she was first introduced to the game.
Joel, Ellie and Tess’ Journey through Boston
Another scene in both the game and the HBO trailer The last of us is the journey of Joel, Ellie and Tess from Boston. One of the levels of the game is that Joel and Tess smuggle Ellie out of town and lead them through a rundown Boston outside the quarantine zone. This leads them through overgrown neighborhoods full of The last of usCreatures: Clickers and Runners. The trailer shows the three trying to keep quiet to avoid the Clickers, as well as a wide shot with a cool game of Easter Egg. The level in the game has two collapsed skyscrapers in the background, a location detail shown in the trailer.
Tess’ voiceover in The Last Of Us trailer is similar to the game
The trailer’s voiceover references another video game scene shot in HBO’s The last of us show. The voiceover comes from Tess, who explains how Joel has a chance to make things right by keeping Ellie alive. This voiceover is very similar to a speech Tess gives in-game shortly before she dies, in which she convinces Joel to take Ellie to the Fireflies. Though somewhat elaborate, the message of the speech reads the same, in that Tess believes in Joel and Ellie.
Joel and Ellie meet Nick Offerman’s bill
Another character from the game shown in HBO’s trailer The last of us show is Bill, played by Nick Offerman. In the game, Bill is a reclusive survivalist who asks Joel and Ellie for help in finding a car to travel across the country. In the trailer, Bill is shown observing several CCTV screens and also pointing a gun at Joel, who is stuck in some sort of ditch. These scenes are Easter eggs referring to Bill’s nature from the game as he is described as a very anxious, paranoid person hence his solitary living situation. The CCTV cameras and Joel’s distrust just hint at this paranoid nature that coexists with the game in the show.
Ellie’s Backstory with Riley (from The Last Of Us DLC)
It’s clear from the trailer for The last of us that the show’s . will contain Abandoned prequel DLC and Riley (Storm Reid), a character from Ellie’s past, in the main story of the HBO show. While the events of Abandoned important to Ellie’s character, they were shown in DLC after the game’s initial release. Because the nature of a TV show allows for different storytelling techniques, it’s clear from the trailer that Riley and Ellie’s backstory will be central to the main story rather than something as outlandish as Abandoned.
The trailer shows Ellie and Riley riding a carousel, which is an Easter egg nodding to a small sequence of: Abandoned in which the two joke on a merry-go-round. It is clear from this reference that Riley will be a big part of The last of us and that her relationship with Ellie will be pivotal in HBO’s adaptation. As Abandoned takes place before the main game, it will be interesting to see how HBO handles The last of us‘s timeline and whether it will display the same as the game story.
The main winter scene of Joel and Ellie
The last scene from the The last of us source material in the HBO show’s trailer is a pivotal moment from the “Winter” section of the video game. The trailer shows a scene with Ellie covered in blood while Joel holds her head in his hands. This shot comes straight from the game, despite being in a slightly different setting, and comes from a sequence where the relationship between Joel and Ellie changes. In this scene, Joel really accepts Ellie as his surrogate daughter for the first time, suggesting that this series will play out in much the same way as the series adaptation of The last of us debuts on HBO in 2023.
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