it's a match that sounds too good to be
true the last of us adapted into a TV
series on HBO being held by a
combination of the original writer Neil
druckmann and Craig Mazin the latter
being the creator and writer of HBO's
Chernobyl welcome to watchmojo.com
themselves in their homes and supplies
started running low that's when you saw
what people are really capable of for
this list we'll be looking at what made
both the last of us and Chernobyl such
compelling pieces of entertainment as
well as what made previous video game
adaptations successes or failures to see
how HBO's The Last of Us can be the best
it can possibly be
well then I'm staying oh we won't get
another shot at this number 10 the early
years of the outbreak
the one thing we don't want to see is
for the series to be a one-to-one
adaptation of Joel and Ellie's journey
across the United States that story is
perfect as it is don't change it and
don't remake it instead for this premise
we're going to take a page from The
Witcher Netflix series and propose that
the TV series should be set before the
events of the main game the number of
confirmed deaths has passed 200 the
governor has called a state of emergency
hundreds of bodies firing streets
the other reason why it would be ideal
to focus on the early outbreak as
opposed to Joel and Ellie is the walking
dead like journey is that it runs the
risk of being compared to the Walking
Dead as opposed to its own thing it
would certainly raise tensions to see
how society adapts to the cordyceps
outbreak number 9 Joel's missing years
so I'll take one guess the whole deal
went south and the client made off with
our pills right the one downside and
having the series be a prequel is that
we're unlikely to see Ellie play a major
role though we will still have the
second game to make up for that
that said it would easily give Joel the
screen time necessary to be further
fleshed out and expand his backstory you
have any idea what's going on out there
I got some notion how did he deal with
the death of Sarah during those early
outbreak days why did he have a falling
out with his brother Tommy that sent
them to opposite ends of the United
States how did he end up crossing paths
with both Tess and Marlene the advantage
of a Joel prequel is that we can also
explore these fundamental relationships
intertwined within a grounded story of
grieving of a once lost child tongue
tooth
don't do this to me number eight more
about the fireflies remember when you're
lost in the darkness almost immediately
after the news broke about this project
being in the works
HBO tweeted out a Jif of the fireflies
emblem along with the moto look for the
lights this could indicate that we will
find out more about how the fireflies
were founded how they came into power in
the midst of the cordyceps outbreak and
how they came into conflict with the US
military
let's go find a firefly won't have to
look very far Queen Firefly this would
also mean that Marlene would have a more
prominent role in the show as she was
one of the founding members of the group
most importantly this story arc could
set the stage for a large-scale conflict
between the fireflies and u.s. soldiers
with you know clickers in the middle of
the battlefield no big deal right got
those things are terrifying
number seven reflect modern-day
outbreaks and he's in pain
and a source stick to his gun when he
soils himself five times a night I've
been looking after him where have you
been
but in the north and west wing where
there are dozens of patients from
Chernobyl exactly like him
what made Chernobyl a masterpiece of
television is that despite being based
off the infamous 1986 accident it was
extremely relatable to the modern day
political landscape it focused on the
theme of the cost of Lies and how those
in power tried to downplay and cover up
the severity of the worst nuclear
disaster in history you didn't see
graphite I did you didn't because it's
not there look to today and it's
impossible to escape the news of the
corona virus and how various governments
around the world have employed different
ways to contain the outbreak more
importantly how some have botched
appropriate measures to contain the
virus since we mentioned how this show
may explain the origins of the fireflies
perhaps distrust of the government was
how they grew in numbers or why vaccine
tests failed it's certainly possible to
convey all of this within the lore of
the last of us swear to me that
everything that you've said about the
fireflies is true
I swear every lie you tell incurs a debt
to the truth sooner or later that debt
is paid number six how the rest of the
world has fared the Last of Us was
solely focused on what happened within
the United States from start to finish
we didn't hear as much of a peep as to
what happened elsewhere in the world
following up from our last entry we know
different nations have employed
different ways to approach and contain
the coronavirus maybe for this show some
nations were able to completely
eradicate the infection maybe others are
completely devoid of human life perhaps
this can be an important piece of social
commentary on the price of secrecy and
patriotism in the face of the pandemic
there's certainly no right or wrong
answer here and that's what can lead to
compelling storytelling there could be
no doubt about the supremacy of the
Soviet nuclear industry Oh
the KGB classified it it's a state
secret number five music by Gustavo
Santa liya
[Music]
this seems almost like a no-brainer
Gustavo Santa Leah's iconic score for
the loss of us perfectly captured the
emotional beats of despair and
heartbreak and the bittersweet beauty of
a world reclaimed by Nature
outside of the loss of us Santo Leah's
discography really speaks for itself
his most recent TV series credit was for
the Netflix series not cross Mexico he
also managed to snag a BAFTA for his
score on the motorcycle diaries
and an Academy Award for his work on
Brokeback Mountain
[Music]
Chernobyl's composer Hilda GU not idea
who also won an Academy Award for
Georgia would also be highly ideal
should Santa laia be unavailable
[Music]
number four more Marlene even if you get
her out of here then what how long
before she's torn to pieces by packing
clickers as we mentioned earlier since
it's possible the show could focus on
the origins of the fireflies it would
also mean that one of its founding
members Marlene could have a lead role
in the show it would be the perfect
opportunity considering her appearances
in the game and comic series has been
relatively sparse how do you know them I
was close with his brother Tommy said if
I was ever in a jam I could rely on him
what we do know is that she was
supposedly really close with Ellie's
mother Anna who apparently died within a
day of giving birth to Ellie
Marlene made the promise to a dying
friend that she would watch over her
daughter
I promise all these years despite
everything that I was in charge of I
looked after her we've done anything for
her and at times I mean watching over an
adoptive baby daughter and leading a
revolution in a mushroom zombie infested
United States there's a lot to work with
here
where are you know Desmond wiping you
guys how about that
number three rolls for Troy Baker and
Ashley Johnson I'm sorry about your
daughter Jo but I've lost people too you
have no idea what loss is whether or not
Rebecca ends up reprising his role as
Joel remains to be seen
seeing as video game adaptations rarely
if ever recast their voice actors into
live-action roles it's also impossible
for Ashley Johnson to play Ellie given
that she's 36 but that doesn't mean they
should be looked over by casting
directors as both of them have strong
resumes of physical acting performances
even if Troy's is mostly motion capture
plus it would be an absolute sin if the
original stars of the show weren't
honored in some way in fact the most
ideal role to give to Ashley she could
be the one to play Ellie's mother Anna a
laser scan James body across all
spectrums so maybe I can just cycle back
down to all the infrared channels number
two ideal casting choices
maybe maybe maybe they had a map or
something to tell us where they were
going in how far we were take this test
as far as it needs to go I mean we would
love to see the cost of the game reprise
their role in the show especially seeing
as many of them look their parts Merle
Dandridge as Marlene
Jeffrey Pierce's Tommy and Annie
Wersching as tests but there's always
the risk of scheduling conflicts so we
have a few alternate options just in
case obviously some fans might say Hugh
Jackman for Joel but a loose Hollywood
actors might be impossible for a TV
series
so our shortlist of alternates for both
Joel and Tommy since their brothers were
being Nikolaj coster-waldau joel
edgerton or travis thermal from arlene
our short list would comprise of simone
misuk Orson equal Martin green we tried
alternatives for tests but honestly
Annie is just too perfect in that role
to recast no you don't actually I know
things that Anthony doesn't know before
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notifications number one new complex
characters from Neil druckmann
it's no secret that what really made the
loss of us such an incredible story
where it's complex and fleshed out
characters so while we'd love to see
characters like Joel Marlene Tommy and
tests brought to life in this new
live-action series we would also like to
meet new characters in the world of this
franchise look at it this way there are
always limitations with writing for
pre-established characters but druckmann
has proved that he's not shy about
introducing new characters against fan
expectations let's not forget that one
last of us part 2 trailer that only
starred characters we had never seen
before
flipper rings we also hope against hope
that these new characters aren't just
red shirts for the apocalypse either
still if Neil druckmann and Craig Mazin
can't get us emotionally attached to
these characters who else can it's
Tommy's birthday it's all he wanted to
do is went to Harley's and drive
cross-country do you agree with our
picks check out this other recent clip
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