Season 2 of the HBO series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us is expected to start filming in Vancouver, Canada very soon, and Pedro Pascal is set to reprise the role of Joel when the new episodes start filming. Season 2 is based on the video game The Last of Us Part II, and while Pascal made his way down the red carpet at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of his movie Freaky Tales, Deadline took the opportunity to ask Pascal if his character arc on the show will differ from what Joel goes through in the video game source material.
Pascal answered, “Does it deviate from the game? That’s a good question. I think that they’re always going to find ways to build on the incredible source material that they have, and surprise us with how they can use that material in a different format like a television show. But I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anybody, and the truth is, I don’t actually have all of the information as of yet.“
So, despite familiarity with The Last of Us Part II, we still don’t know what’s going to happen with Joel in season 2 of the TV show, and it sounds like Pascal isn’t quite sure yet, either.
The story of the The Last of Us video game is set years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, transforming most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who’s living in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in the black market of this community. Together, they’ve become known by the local criminal underworld for their ruthlessness. On a mission to reclaim their stolen guns, they run into the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the zone. This mission soon becomes much more than they were prepared for.
For the HBO series, Pascal plays Joel, who is “tormented by past trauma and failure. He must trek across a pandemic-ravaged America, all the while protecting a girl who represents the last hope of humanity”. He is joined in the cast by Bella Ramsey as Ellie, “an orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet and who struggles to balance her instinct for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging… as well as the newfound reality that she may be the key to saving the world”; Anna Torv as Tess, “a smuggler and hardened survivor in a post-pandemic world”; Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy, “a former soldier who hasn’t lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world”; Merle Dandridge as Marlene, “the head of the Fireflies, a resistance movement struggling for freedom against an oppressive military regime”; Nico Parker as Joel’s daughter Sarah; Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, “a rebel in a quarantine zone”; Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill and Frank, “two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town”; and Storm Reid as Ellie’s best friend Riley.
Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who did the motion-capture performances for Joel and Ellie in the video game, are also in the cast of the show. Baker plays James, “a senior member of a group of settlers who must fight to keep their community alive in the face of increasingly brutal odds.” Baker also hosts a podcast that serves as a companion to the TV series. Johnson’s character is Anna, “a pregnant woman, alone and on the run, who must give birth under the most terrifying of circumstances.”
It was recently announced that Kaitlyn Dever from Booksmart and No One Will Save You has been cast in the role of Abby Anderson, a major character from the video game. Abby is described as being “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.” Isabela Merced, whose previous credits include Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Sweet Girl, is set to play Ellie’s new romantic interest Dina. We also know that Young Mazino of Beef will play Jesse, “a pillar of his community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.” Jesse also happens to be Dina’s ex.
Would you like to see The Last of Us season 2 deviate from the Joel story in The Last of Us Part II? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.