#The Last of Us Fan Art Imagines What Pedro Pascal Will Look Like as Joel

New fan art gives us a look at how Pedro Pascal might appear in HBO’s The Last of Us TV show, and even the original game’s writer and creative director Neil Druckmann is impressed. On Twitter, Druckmann posted a portrait by Andrea C. White of Pascal sporting a beard and hairstyle more reminiscent of the hardened smuggler from the video game. It might just be a painting, but the artwork is enough to get many fans excited with thousands of likes and retweets.

Damn… our fans don’t waste time. Well done! @PedroPascal1https://t.co/o8DRWJs7vGpic.twitter.com/pimpOU57bX

— Dr. Uckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) February 16, 2021

“Damn… our fans don’t waste time. Well done!” Druckmann says in the tweet. Shortly before Pascal’s casting as Joel Miller in The Last of Us was revealed, it was also announced that Bella Ramsey would be co-starring as Ellie. Most of us may know Ramsey best for her breakout role as Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones, one of the most badass characters on the HBO series despite her young age. Pascal also had a role on Game of Thrones as Oberyn Martell, but because his character died before Ramsey debuted, the two never shared any screen time.
RELATED: Does Pedro Pascal’s The Last of Us Casting Mean He’s Leaving The Mandalorian?
Of course, Pedro Pascal has since become a much bigger star as lead character Din Djarin on the popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian. That series follows a lone bounty hunter on a personal mission to protect Baby Yoda from the sinister Moff Gideon, story that’s oddly similar to the role Joel serves for Ellie in The Last of Us. With The Mandalorian becoming one of the most popular shows in the world since its debut, the show has made Pascal one of the more in-demand actors in Hollywood, leading to his recent casting as Joel.

The original video game version of The Last of Us was released in 2013. Players take control of Joel Miller, a smuggler hired to escort a teenage girl across a post-apocalyptic wasteland for reasons that aren’t entirely clear at first. As the two bond over the course of their journey, keeping Ellie safe becomes top priority for Joel above everything else. Because of its compelling story and acclaimed gameplay, The Last of Us quickly became one of the most popular video games of the time, garnering many Game of the Year awards in the process.

Druckmann is writing the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. Both will also serve as executive producers alongside TV producer Carolyn Strauss, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells, PlayStation Productions’s Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan, and director Johan Renck. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov is set to direct the pilot episode and original video game composer Gustavo Santaolalla will score the series.

HBO has not yet set an official release date for The Last of Us and it’s not clear when production will begin. Although the series will take first position with Pascal moving forward, it’s not expected to interfere in a significant way with his role on The Mandalorian, as stunt performers have been used in the past to stand in for Pascal for the times when he couldn’t physically make it to the set. As Joel Miller won’t be masked, he’ll need to be much more heavily involved with The Last of Us. This news comes to us from Neil Druckmann on Twitter.

Topics: The Last of Us, HBO Max, Streaming