‘Mandalorian’ Star Pedro Pascal Cast as Joel in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Series

The Last of Us games have always been cinematic in their scope and execution. Now, an HBO TV show will be recreating those games for television audiences, and the network has cast The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal as Joel.

Pascal has been making major waves in recent years. He currently headlines The Mandalorian and recently played the villainous Max Lord in Wonder Woman 1984. But to many fans, he is best known for his slick and charming portrayal of Oberyn Martell in HBO’s Game of Thrones.

While their characters never intersected on that show, it looks like The Last of Us may be a miniature Game of Thrones reunion. That’s because Bella Ramsey has been cast to play Ellie. Ramsey is best known to Game of Thrones fans as the fierce Lyanna Mormont.

When The Last of Us show was first announced, many fans were understandably skeptical of how faithful HBO would stay to the source material of the video game. But there are reasons to be hopeful. According to a Deadline report, Joel is a “hardened survivor” on a mission to get Ellie away from “an oppressive quarantine zone.”

The character Joel is described as being “tormented by past trauma and failure.” Meanwhile, Ellie is described as a character “who represents the last hope of humanity.” While the descriptions are a bit broad, this all seems to be a good description of these characters and their world in The Last of Us video game.

With that being said, there are already plans to expand on the world of the video game and offer fans some surprises. For example, showrunner Craig Mazin (best known for creating HBO’s hit mini-series Chernobyl) said in an interview with BBC Must Watch that the show would include a “jaw-drop” moment that was planned for the original game but eventually cut. Now, with the help of game creator Neil Druckmann, they can bring this mysterious moment back to life.

Mazin is also upfront about his goals for the show. Instead of making fans love the game in the same way they always have, he hopes “to make you fall in love with it again in a different way.” This may sound pretty ambitious. But with Mazin’s proven track record and the full cooperation of the original game’s creator, we’ve got high hopes for this upcoming show.

No release date has been announced.