Pedro Pascal To Star as Joel in ‘The Last of Us’ HBO Series

It comes as no surprise that Pedro Pascal landed such a big role after his remarkable effort as Mando. He received plenty of offers from networks and streamers, ultimately deciding to go with The Last of Us.

Ever since his role on Game of Thrones as Oberyn Martell, it was clear Pascal would land substantial roles, but I wouldn’t have guessed he’d get this big. After seeing his performance on The Mandolorian, however, I like him for the role of Joel. It’s obvious he can play a variety of roles and excel in each. I expect the same for The Last of Us, although I can't help but wonder how Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would do as Joel. They even look similar.

In a sort of Game of Thrones reunion, Bella Ramsey has been cast as Ellie. I like this casting as Ramsey was outstanding in her role as Lyanna Mormont. The roles are similar in how fearless the characters are which is why this should be a good fit.

Chernobyl creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are hopping on this as well, which should prove to be a good move as The Last of Us needs to have that catastrophic feel to it. Who knows, maybe The Last of Us will be even better than Chernobyl.

In case you didn’t play the video game, The Last of Us is set 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed as a result of a pandemic that turns humans into zombie-like abominations called clickers. Joel’s job is to smuggle Ellie out of a quarantine zone and the story revolves around their efforts to find a cure for the infected.

All in all, I think this cast is setting up the series for success. The Last of Us video game was one of the best games ever made, let’s pray this series lives up to the hype. But if there’s one thing we learned from The Last of Us Part II, it’s to not set our expectations too high.