“If It’s Better, We Deviate.” – Last of Us Creator Neil Druckmann Shares How They Crafted the Biggest Turn From the Source Material in the HBO Series

In the latest episode of the Last of Us television series on HBO Max, fans witnessed the biggest change in the story compared to the source material so far. In the “Inside” look of the episode, the showrunners shared how they were able to make the change as natural as possible. 

The Last of Us show is based on the critically acclaimed gaming series by Naughty Dog. The show has by far received highly positive reviews from both fans and critics. The main positive of the show, according to the showrunners and fans, is the fact that it puts effort to be as true as possible to the source material. Unlike the other high-budget video game adaptations in Hollywood. 

But that doesn’t mean the show is a 1:1 copy of the original game. The crew addressed the fans that there would be some deviations in the show from the original story. One big change was witnessed in the episode, where the rugged character of Bill could be seen in a completely new light than the games.

The Biggest deviation in the Last of Us HBO show so far 

In the first Last of Us game, the character of Bill was introduced as a Doomsday prepper who tasked Joel to complete some favors for him. In the game, Bill’s backstory was discussed very vaguely. It was shown that he had a partner named Frank who had left him for unspecified reasons. 

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But in the latest episode, Bill was written completely differently. Here it could be seen that Frank and Bill never broke up. Instead they lived to old age and helped each other commit suicide. In the post-show called, “inside the episode” the cast and crew discussed their trail of thoughts behind this change. 

“My philosophy on the show has been when should we deviate and when should we come back. If it’s kinda the same or worse, we stay where the game is,” said the Co-creator and producer of the show Neil Druckmann. He continued, “If it’s better, we deviate.”

“Bill and Frank are kind of opposites really in terms of the way they operate in the world,” said Murray Bartlett, the actor playing the character of Frank. “Bill’s super practical and not emotional and Frank is the opposite of that…we get to do these contrasting scenes. These action kind of scenes and then these intimate, vulnerable scenes.”

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