HBO's Queer-Inclusive The Last of Us Series Has Found Its Stars
HBO's Queer-Inclusive 'The Last of Us' Series Has Found Its Stars

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are set to lead the upcoming show based on the popular (and queer) video game series.
The much talked about, live-action TV series adaptation of Sony and Naughty Dog's popular Playstation video game series The Last of Us has finally found the leads to play the iconic duo of Joel and Ellie!Â
According to reports from Deadline, HBO has tapped The Mandalorian star and vocal trans ally Pedro Pascal to play protagonist, smuggler, and father figure Joel, with up-and-comer Bella Ramsey set to lead alongside him as the lesbian teenager Ellie!Â
\u201cTwo former Game of Thrones stars will headline HBO\u2019s The Last of Us series: Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. https://t.co/ulofWZzrD3\u201d— IGN (@IGN) 1613020564
The two Game of Thrones alum will be uniting to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic America where people are trying to survive after a deadly infection decimates most of the population. The first installment of the video game series was released to critical acclaim and commercial success back in 2013, and while Ellie's queerness was only briefly mentioned/confirmed in extra, downloadable content, as our sister publication Out points out, Ellie's sexuality was a main point in the storyline for the game's sequel, which came out just last year.Â
Though some of it's LGBTQ+ storylines are far from perfect (fans took particular issue with the way trans character Lev was portrayed, and the violence and trauma he was subjected to) it's nice to see more LGBTQ+ favorite media franchises getting the shine they deserve, and fans are excited AF about it!Â
\u201cI\u2019m actually really fucking excited for The Last Of Us tv show now. Was pretty nervous before we knew much about it because of how special the video game is to a lot of us, but I completely trust the casting that Neil and the rest of the team have chosen. Let\u2019s fucking gooooo \ud83c\udf3f\u201d— niamh \ud83e\uddc1 (@niamh \ud83e\uddc1) 1613060116
\u201cPedro and Bella are going to absolutely nail The Last of Us. I\u2019m so excited\u201d— Teddy (@Teddy) 1613057169
\u201cthinkin bout how pedro pascal as Joel makes the HBO #LastOfUs series just zombie mandalorian......except instead of baby yoda it\u2019s a raging lesbian and I\u2019m HERE FOR IT\u201d— sturph (@sturph) 1613051731
No news has been announced just yet it comes to when production of the series will start or when we can expect it finally hit HBO, but considering all of the fanfare surrounding the video games, fans are definitely going to be waiting on the edge of their seats for more updates!Â