Pedro Pascal Cast as Joel in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Adaptation

As reported by Deadline, The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal has been cast in a leading role in HBO’s television adaptation of The Last of Us.
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is a widely popular action-adventure survival game that arrived on the PlayStation console in 2013. Last year, the game’s sequel — The Last of Us Part II — was released and met with critical acclaim.
The game’s post-apocalyptic story takes place 20 years after civilization has been torn apart by a fungal-based, brain-altering pandemic. Pascal will take on the leading role in the series as the protagonist Joel, a black market smuggler. Joel is tasked with escorting a 14-year-old girl named Ellie across the United States, who will be portrayed by Game of Thrones‘ Bella Ramsey. Ellie plays an especially important role because she’s immune to the virus and may be the key to a vaccine.
The Last of Us is being developed by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann, the director of the game the series is based on and co-president of Naughty Dog.
Stay tuned for more news on HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation.