The Last Of Us Teaser Trailer has just dropped online, and the stunning show has a lot to unpack from it. Throughout this Trailer Breakdown, we’re gonna be breaking down all the easter eggs, game references, and also the things you missed to talk about why we’re so excited for the show.
The series was created by Craig Mazin, who also wrote and produced the HBO series Chernobyl. Game of Thrones breakthrough stars Pedro Pascal, who will portray Joel, and Bella Ramsey, who will play Ellie, will serve as the show’s leaders. Additionally, Gabriel Luna, who plays Tommy, and Anna Torv who plays Tess will appear in the series. Neil Druckmann, who works for Naughty Dog, the company that created both The Last of Us video games, is the series’ creator and executive producer.
The Last of Us centers on Joel and Ellie as they navigate a post-apocalyptic America that has been devastated by an unknown disease that has taken over people’s brains and transformed them into terrifying monsters. They encounter a variety of people along the road, some of whom are kind and others who are at least as deadly as the infected they are evacuating. The Last of Us’ first season will consist of 10 episodes, and a second season hasn’t been officially confirmed.
The Last Of Us Trailer Breakdown
Ok, So we open with Joel being played by Pedro Pascal. On top of this, we can hear the son Alone and Forsaken by Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys. This song pulls directly from the game, and it’s what we hear when Joel and Ellie crash in Pittsburgh after they’re ambushed. This scene pops up towards the end of the teaser, and we can see the pair crash into a store.
When initially watching this, I thought it might be a day scene that we weren’t privy to in the original game. The source material starts off with Joel’s daughter Sarah on the night of the outbreak. From here, we watch as everything devolves into chaos, and we actually get some shots of this in the trailer. This includes Joel, his brother Tommy and Sarah all sitting in a truck as they try and escape. The trailer adds something that wasn’t in the game, which is a plane crashing, and we also see Joel carrying her as he runs.
This was pretty much how the game opened, and there’s a big scene that happens right after this between Joel and his daughter. That day she gifted him a watch that gets broken during this, and he ends up wearing it for the rest of his life. We actually see this early on in the teaser, and the costume design looks perfect when we put it side by side with the show.
Looks like we’re getting a scene in which we see one of the infected spring up and also a moment when the truck crashes. We get a split-second shot of Gabriel Luna in flames, and we know he’ll be playing Tommy. The man was also a rider in flames at one point, and if this is as impactful as the game, then it’s gonna be a brilliant way to open the series.
The Infection
Anyway, back to the opening shot, and rather than it being pre-outbreak, I think this is definitely posted. This appears to be the Fedra camp that we pick up in after the time jump, and if you look closely, you can see Pedro’s hair is grey now, similar to Joels at this stage in the game. We see people wearing bucket hats, and the red buildings also look similar to how they appeared in the game.
Next, we cut to a sign talking about the curfew, and at this early level, there was lots of talk about how they were sneaking around outside of these hours in order to initially catch Robert and then smuggle out Ellie.
We then see a sign below this talking about cordyseps infection, and for those who haven’t played the games, this is basically what started the outbreak. This parasite exists in the animal kingdom, but it only really infects insects and smaller animals.
However, the Last Of Us had it mutating so that it infected humans, and then everything went worse than when Liz Truss got in charge. These symptoms include coughing, slurred speech, muscle spasms, and mood change. They tend to set in within a couple of hours which is why Joel and his partner Tess don’t question the reveal that comes with Ellie.
I know some of you haven’t played the game, but it centers around Joel escorting her to a firefly outpost where they will apparently be able to create a cure from her blood. Ellie is the only person who’s ever been found to be immune to the cordyseps infection, and she’s humanity’s last hope.
Leader Marlene
We see one of these firefly signs being covered up, and they litter the game with Ellie and Joel moving through different cities as they try and get to where they’ve hidden out. They’re basically a rebel group, and we see their leader Marlene later on in the teaser. She’s holding her gut, confirming that this takes place early on in the game, right after Joel and Tess kill Robert. I’m not sure who the woman with her is as she’s a new creation for the show, but this is definitely Marlene.
At one point, we get what appears to be when the alarm sets off with people being shot in the street and the Fedra army going through it. Now the first part of the trailer seems to center around escaping the Fedra city which is what the early part of the game does too. I’ve been playing through the PS5 remake recently, and they’ve really captured the feel of it, including the shining spotlights that beam down once you make it past the wall.
Going Through The Pipes
We see Joel, Ellie, and Tess in a pipe, and when you’re evading their beams, you have to crawl through cracked streets that lead down into the sewers littered with these. Later on, in the Last of Us Trailer, we see Joel smashing a Fedra agent’s head in like it’s the Tv remote button, and I’m guessing this happens just after Ellie is scanned. She’s positive, so it makes them draw their weapons on her, which is when Joel kicks the crap out of one whilst Tess shoots the others. This is how they discover she’s immune and realizes how important she is. Once they make it past here and further into the abandoned city they next travel to the twin skyscrapers, which we see perfectly recaptured here.
This was the shot that really made me realize how much attention to detail they were paying to the game, and anyone who’s played it will instantly recognize these. This is the place where you first start to encounter the infected, and though there were some run-ins with them before, this is really their natural habitat. It’s full of clickers who are people that are further along in the infection. The funghi has completely covered their face leaving them blind, and now they see with echolocation. The final shot of the teaser ends on this, and they’re one of the scariest monsters ever created.
Bill And His Traps
Now next, we get a shot that doesn’t pop up in the game. It looks like someone is watching over security footage, and I believe that this might actually be Bill. Bill is gonna be played by Nick Offerman, and I think this is perfect casting. Bill basically has his own town that Joel and Ellie travel to in order to get a car before they move onto Pittsburgh.
He has booby traps set up everywhere, and it makes sense that he’d be looking over footage though it’s far more populated than where he lives in the game. This makes me think he might be spying on a Fedra camp rather than looking at what’s going on where he lives. Joel ends up getting caught in one of his traps, and it seems like something similar is gonna happen here. It’s different in the game with him having to fight off the infected whilst Ellie releases him, but we’ll see what they do.
Including The DLC
Next, we cut to an open field with some bodies in it before we move to the museum and hear that infamous clicker clicking. We watch as they move through the displays, which include civil war era guns which are also parts of the level layout.
From here, we get several shots of cities, including winter. I’ll talk about how this could change up from the game in a bit, but this is where Ellie meets David in the game. Now interestingly, it also looks like the DLC is gonna be included in the series too. In that, we watched how Ellie got infected and followed her and her friend Riley as they moved through an abandoned mall.
Ellie is gay, and she and Riley end up realizing their feelings for each other, but they are then swarmed by the infected, and both get bitten. The merry-go-round is a big part of this adventure that we see here. Really excited to see how this plays out, and I’m glad the DLC wasn’t Left Behind.
The New Character
Next in the Last of Us Trailer, we see a woman marching through the streets. No idea who this character is, and I’ve looked through the cast list but can’t see anyone that lines up with her. She’s a brand new creation for the show, and it looks like she’s holed up at a rebel site, so this may be Pittsburgh.
Rather than being in the Fedra swat team attire, they’re wearing what looks like normal clothes with some scavaged helmets, so I’m guessing she might be the leader of the rebels in the city. Might also be setting things up from the second game but yeah, let me know below if you know who this is. They have an armored truck with Run on the front of it, which would be more in line with the people from that city.
Later on, in the Last of Us teaser, we see this truck chasing three people, and we can see that one is Ellie. The other two looks like Henry and Sam made me think that this is the night they go to escape Pittsburgh and have to jump off the bridge.
We also get a shot in which three people are in a room together with a woman sitting in a chair. An explosion goes off behind them, and this scene looks like it’s brand new for the show as it doesn’t appear in the game. I think this woman can later be seen in the trailer watching people flee, and again, no idea who this is so let me know below.
This Series Has The Potential
Next, we get Ellie’s face covered in blood out in the snow. Joe is comforting her, and because of this, I’m guessing it comes just after she’s killed David. He was the leader of a group of cannibals that Ellie came across in the wilderness whilst Joel was resting up after being impaled by some Rebar. I remember it being agonizing wondering if he was still alive as they just drop you in it without telling you, and you have to play about an hour before you find out.
The whole section is centered around Ellie being captured by him, and then she has to escape and kill his forces whilst Joel tries to get to her. The really brilliant part of the game, and after our shot of the clicker, we see Joel and Ellie standing together. I know people are kinda off on the casting of her, but I think she’s definitely got the attitude to pull off Ellie, and I am really excited to see the series when it releases in 2023.
So overall really gripping trailer that I think recaptures the game perfectly. As I mentioned earlier, I have been playing through the quote-unquote remake, and though the price point of that initially put me off, I’m so glad I did because I forgot how perfect the game really was. Still holds up today, and if they manage to recapture it in live action, then I think it’s gonna be the best video game adaptation of all time. It isn’t exactly hard, but yeah, I’m really excited to see what they do with this.
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