Leaked The Last Of Us Footage Confirms Key Change From The Games
In 2013, Naughty Dog unleashed The Last of Us onto the world and forever changed the survival horror genre. While Resident Evil has long been the undisputed king of the zombie shooter, The Last of Us hit the scene as something different - and it wasn't just because of fungus zombies.
If sweeping the awards boards and going on to become one of the best-selling video games of all times (not bad for a PlayStation exclusive) wasn't enough, Naughty Dog was quickly touted for a potential movie adaptation. Going the same route as the long-developed Halo series, The Last of Us ditched its big-screen potential in favour of a more intimate TV release. As the pieces finally come together, we think it will be all the better for it.
How Will The Last Of Us Be Different To The Games?
Instead of cramming the entirety of the game's action-packed story into just two hours, showrunner Craig Mazin has the luxury of unravelling The Last of Us' rich backstory just like Neil Druckmann did in the game. As an added bonus, Druckmann himself is on hand as a co-writer, and has even directed an episode of the freshman series.
While Druckmann has promised a faithful adaptation of the source material, it seems there will be a few key differences that set The Last of Us apart from its gaming counterpart. Only recently, we explained how leaked footage from the set in Canada proved it would be just like the games, but now, we're here to tell you, things will be a little different.
Twitter account @TheLastofUsTV showed filming that teases flashbacks to the start of the outbreak will be part of the series. As trucks drive through the set, you can hear gunfire alongside chants of "Freedom" and "F**k FEDRA." In The Last of Us, FEDRA (Federal Disaster Response Agency) replaced the US Government and moved survivors into quarantine zones in major cities like Boston.
What Do The FEDRA Scenes Mean For The Last Of Us?
Click to enlargeFEDRA was only a background presence until The Last of Us Part II, and even then, you never directly encounter the organisation. It's also interesting to note that FEDRA is the driving motivation in what causes Marlene to form the Fireflies. Given that Merle Dandridge is reprising her role as Marlene from the games, let's see if there's more to these scenes.
Despite the critical acclaim The Last of Us earned, others were critical that we skipped a lot of the outbreak backstory, and that after the harrowing opening, we jumped straight to Joel in the year 2033. If The Last of Us is leaning into flashback narratives, it'll be great to see more of how the Cordyceps outbreak took hold and what turns the various main players into the hardened survivors they are now.
As the panned Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City proves, a straight-up adaptation doesn't always work. If you ignore Game of Thrones Season 8, HBO has a pretty solid track record, so The Last of Us should be in safe hands. Unfortunately, HBO is a little slow on the uptake marketing The Last of Us, meaning that apart from a single shot, we've got no footage ahead of the show's (delayed) 2023 release. Good job those spoiler hounds are on hand to snap it all.
