First official trailer for HBO’s The Last of Us stays true to video game roots

Naughty Dog's The Last of Us has been one of the more iconic games in the modern era, lauded for its storytelling and character development. All of that will need to come to the fore when HBO releases its own take next year and the first official trailer for The Last of Us series seems to suggest that we are headed in the right direction.

Released as part of The Last of Us Day (which falls on Sept 26) celebrations, the trailer provides the first look at a post-apocalyptic world full of human struggle, tense relationships and live-action Clickers waiting to tear a chunk out of you and I.

Fans of the series will no doubt recognise many of the elements in the trailer for the HBO series, including the iconic opening scenes of The Last of Us with Joel and his daughter Sarah, and the escape with Ellie out of the quarantine zone. At the end, we finally get a good look at the live-action Clickers, people turned cordycep monsters that are as dangerous as they are disgusting looking.

In addition to Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Bella Ramsey (Ellie) being in the HBO series, The Last of Us cast includes Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy; Merle Dandridge as Marlene, the leader of the rebel group the Fireflies; Nico Parker as Joel's daughter Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank; Nick Offerman as Bill; Jeffrey Pierce as Perry; and Anna Torv as Tess. Voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who played Joel and Ellie in the video games, will also appear in the show in undisclosed roles.

"The Last of Us Day is our way of celebrating the incredible The Last of Us community who bring so much positivity, kindness and joy, not only to us at the studio but to each other," said Naughty Dog. "For 2022, we have some surprises that we're thrilled to share!"

This trailer drop for the HBO series is surely one of those surprises, although we still do not have a release date for The Last of Us just yet. Here's hoping we will get that soon enough, alongside other amazing things to come from the studio.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.