The Last of Us HBO series has a "jaw drop" moment that didn't make it into the game

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Craig Mazin explains one way they're expanding on the game

(Image credit: Naughty Dog)

The Last of Us HBO series will include some moments that didn't make it into the original game.

The new series, which is being written both by Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann, will adapt the game into a televised, episodic format. While the series meant to bring the story of Joel and Ellie's journey to a new audience, it's also meant to please fans of the game. It's a new opportunity to revisit material that Naughty Dog considered but ultimately had to pass on in the long, difficult process of creating the 2013 game, as Mazin explained in an interview with BBC Must Watch.

"Neil, at one point he was like, 'You know, there's one thing we were talking about for a while, and then he told me what it was, and I was like, GONK! OK, jaw drop, that's going in," Mazin said, laughing. "We have to do that. You couldn't stop me from doing that, you will have to shoot me to stop me from doing that, so we're doing that.

"And there's quite a few things like that, where it's not like we just decided, 'wouldn't it be cool if Joel and Ellie got on motorcycles and confronted a motorcycle gang?' That's not what we do. There's no episodic nonsense here. This is all very much curated, but the things that are new and enhancing of the storyline we're doing are connected in organic, serious ways that I think fans of the game and newcomers alike will appreciate."

As for when we'll be able to experience these lost Last of Us story beats, Craig Mazin estimated that we should expect the show to start debuting in 2096. He was joking - "you will see it as soon as it is done, I promise you that" - but he did say that they're currently in the writing process, as production is still very limited by COVID-19 travel lockdowns.

Mazin explained how the HBO series will enhance the story of The Last of Us in the same interview. 

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan
Former GamesRadar+ News Writer

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.