With “Mortal Kombat” arriving in theaters and on HBO Max next week, video game adaptations are in the news yet again. And while the jury is still out on that film, there are other adaptations in the works that have fans excited, including HBO’s upcoming series, “The Last of Us.”
According to Deadline, it appears “The Last of Us” is approaching its production start date and adding more cast members to the series, including the latest to join, Gabriel Luna. For those not aware, “The Last of Us” is a post-apocalyptic story about the world being overrun by zombie-like monsters that are infected by mushroom spores to become hideous, killer creatures. The series follows a man and a young girl as they have to navigate this hellscape to find safety. In the series, Luna is set to play Tommy, the brother of the main character, Joel (Pedro Pascal). Tommy, unlike Joel, still has hope for a better future.
Luna is probably best known for his role as Ghost Rider in the Marvel series, “Agents of SHIELD.” He was also set to star as that character in his own Hulu spinoff series, but that series was canceled before production began. In addition to his superhero past, film fans might recognize Luna from his roles in the features “Hala” and “Terminator: Dark Fate.”
In addition to Luna and Pascal, the series also stars Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Adding to the pedigree of the series are the names behind the scenes, with “Chernobyl” writer Craig Mazin leading the series as the showrunner alongside Neil Druckmann, who was responsible for the story of the original ‘Last of Us’ game. Kantemir Balagov is on board as the director of the pilot episode.
No release date has been set for “The Last of Us,” but with HBO putting together one hell of a cast, perhaps the network will be able to give video game fans an adaptation worth checking out.