The Last of Us writer Craig Mazin promised the HBO series will be faithful to the source material and adapt protagonist Ellie as a lesbian character.
In response to the series announcement on HBO's official Twitter account, a fan asked that the series not erase Ellie's queer identity. "You have my word," Mazin wrote back.
Released in 2013, The Last of Us is a survival horror game set in an apocalyptic near future. In the game's world, a mutant Cordyceps fungus strain has turned most of humanity into zombie-like creatures known as the Infected. The story picks up with Joel, a survivor living in Boston's North End. He encounters a young girl named Ellie, who is immune to the mutation and may be able to provide a cure. They travel across the country together and, as they do so, their bond strengthens -- until Joel is forced to make a terrible choice.
In The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC story pack, which takes place before the main title game, Ellie sneaks out to a mall with her friend Riley. There, the two girls share a kiss, before they are attacked and Riley is killed. This is also where Ellie received her fateful bite, where she realizes she is immune to the infection.
"Now, when I was writing it, I was writing it with the idea that Ellie is gay, and when the actresses were working they were definitely working with the idea that they’re both attracted to each other," game creator Neil Druckmann told popQT about Left Behind in 2016. "That was the subtext and intention that they were playing with from the opening cinematic when they’re holding each other’s hands for too long, or when Riley bites her on the neck; there’s that chemistry there from the get go that was important for us so that we earned that moment when they kissed each other."
Written and produced by creator Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, HBO's The Last of Us does not yet have a cast or a release date.