'The Last of Us' creator explains how game's part 2 influenced writing process for series

The Last of Us show co-creator Craig Mazin shared how the video game The Last Of Us Part II influenced his creative process of writing the HBO series.

In a recent podcast with Collider Mazin talked on how the second part of the video game influenced the writing process of the series adaptation's season 1.

Mazin revealed that he was given a sneak peak at a sequence from the unreleased game when he met the original game creator and series co-creator Neil Druckmann before production on the show, the game depicted Ellie's love of space travel. 

"When I first started working with Neil on this adaptation, it was before The Last of Us Part II came out. It was the first time I’d gone to Naughty Dog, and he asked if I wanted to see a sequence from the second game" he said.

He further continued "That touches on Ellie’s fascination with being an astronaut and space travel, and it was this beautiful moment. I said we had this opportunity Neil didn’t have on the first game. We know more now."

"It was a chance to show how Joel knew Ellie. She asks if he knows who her favorite astronaut is, and he knows. Instinctively he’s already in her head and knows her, and she isn’t shocked by this" he added.

The series is based on the award-winning 2013 PlayStation game of the same name, which had a successful sequel released in 2020. 

Starring Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller, who is a hardened survivor tasked with escorting precocious 14-year-old orphan Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey to the Fireflies, 

Fireflies is a revolutionary group that aims to harness Ellie's immunity to the fungal plague to create a vaccine.