The Mandalorian and Wonder Woman 1984 star Pedro Pascal is officially set to lead HBO‘s new live-action video game adaptation The Last Of Us.
The all-new The Last Of Us series for HBO is set to mirror the story of the video game franchise of the same name that was developed by Naughty Dog for the Sony Playstation gaming consoles. The story of the game series is set around two decades after most modern civilization has been destroyed, leaving a broken desolate landscape of ruins of former cities in its stead in the wake of a global pandemic (yes, we know, a very timely issue) that sees much of humanity turned into aggressive murderous creatures.
The game follows a man named Joel (which is the role Pedro Pascal is now set to step into) who is a smuggler working in and out of various quarantine zones. Joel is hired for what seems like a simple enough job, smuggling a fourteen-year-old girl named Ellie (played by another Game Of Thrones alum, Bella Ramsey) out of her quarantine zone. He soon discovers that Ellie may hold the key to saving what is left of humanity, and the pair make their way across what is left of the United States while trying to survive and get Ellie to where she needs to go.
Pedro Pascal is certainly keeping busy lately! The actor stars in the first ever live-action Star Wars television series, The Mandalorian, on Disney+; a series that was recently nominated for Best Drama Series at the Golden Globes. He recently starred as the villainous Maxwell Lord in Wonder Woman 1984 and headlined Robert Rodriguez‘s family-friendly superhero adventure We Can Be Heroes for Netflix. Currently he is filming The Bubble with Judd Apatow for Netflix before settling in to shoot the third season of The Mandalorian for Lucasfilm later this Spring.
Deadline reports that Pascal’s schedule recently opened up, giving him some time to participate in a new series. As one of the most in-demand actors currently in Hollywood following the success of The Mandalorian, Pascal has attracted a number of offers from major streaming services and premium networks. It has now been confirmed that the actor has decided to get back to his roots with HBO, who gave him his breakout role as Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones.
It certainly doesn’t hurt that The Last Of Us tells the story of a tough survivor-type who has to travel all over protecting a smaller but very important being. Pascal may have some experience with that type of role after some of his recent acting gigs.
The Last Of Us series for HBO is coming from Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Neil Druckman, who will both write and executive produce the show for HBO in collaboration with executive producers Carolyn Strauss (who also produced Game of Thrones and Chernobyl), video game developer Naughty Dog’s president Evan Wells, and Playstation Productions’ Asad Qizibash and Carter Swan.
What do you think of Pedro Pascal being cast in the highly coveted role of Joel in The Last Of Us? Do you think he will be a good fit for the character, or was there someone else you had in mind? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for more updates on The Last Of Us!
