The Last of Us: First image from HBO’s series looks promising

Adaptations of popular video games aren’t always handled with the greatest care but if the first image from HBO’s The last of Us series is any indication, the series appears to be in good hands. In celebration of The Last of Us Day, Naughty Dog shared an image from the highly anticipated live-action series.

The image is shot from the back so we only see Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie from behind. The two are overlooking some sort of airplane wreckage.

Again, there’s only so much you can get from a still image, especially one in which you don’t even see the main character’s faces. However, it’s apparent that some great attention to detail has been paid. The outfits and backpacks both seem authentic to what the characters where in the video game. I know that’s a superficial thing to analyze, but it’s all we’ve got to go on right now.

Ultimately, it will come down to how Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey bring these two beloved characters to life and what sort of acting choices they make along the way. I know fans want them to be exactly as the characters in the video games, and they certainly are dressed the part, but we can’t expect them to recreate every little thing.

As a fan of the game who is looking forward to the series, I don’t want a shot-for-shot recreation. I don’t want to see Pedro Pascal try and copy Troy Baker’s performance. I want to see his take on the character. But I also want this post-apocalyptic environment to resemble that of the game. In other words, I don’t need the entire series to be a blatant copy of what happens in the video game. But I do want the tone of the show to reflect the game’s overall experience.

For some people, however, it is important that the actors look like the characters we met in the game. At least based on this single image, Naughty Dog and HBO have hit it out of the ballpark with casting.

The Last of Us is expected to premiere in 2022. The first season has been confirmed for 10 episodes.