The First Trailer for 'The Last of Us' Video Game Adaptation Is Intense

The first official trailer for HBO's highly anticipated "The Last of Us" TV series was published on Monday, offering fans their first glimpse at the adaptation of the famous post-apocalyptic computer game. The program will debut in 2023.

The "The Last of Us" series, like the PlayStation video game, follows a tough survivor named Joel, played by "The Mandalorian" actor Pedro Pascal, as he treks across a United States destroyed by the cordyceps fungus. Along the journey, he meets a little girl named Ellie, played by "Game of Thrones" star Bella Ramsey, who is instrumental in discovering a cure for the zombie-like virus that has ravaged humanity.

The trailer was released on September 26, which is known as Outbreak Day in the "The Last of Us" community. In the original video game, the cordyceps fungus started spread over the United States on September 26. 

Fans will recognize key moments from "The Last of Us" video game in the trailer, which is set to Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken," such as Joel and Ellie escaping a quarantine zone, two collapsing skyscrapers they must traverse, Ellie riding a merry-go-round with her childhood friend Riley, and Joel running with his daughter Sarah at the onset of the pandemic.

People afflicted with the cordyceps fungus transform into shambling creatures known as clickers. They have an insatiable appetite for human flesh once mushroom-like spores grow from their faces. Because they can't sight, the clickers hunt their prey using a spine-chilling sort of echolocation, which you can hear in HBO's brief teaser from this morning.

Other cast members include Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, the head of the rebel organization the Fireflies, Nico Parker as Joel's daughter Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, and Anna Torv as Tess. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who played Joel and Ellie in the video games, will also play unspecified parts in the program.

Along with Craig Mazin, the Emmy-winning creator of "Chernobyl," Neil Druckmann, co-president of video game firm Naughty Dog, serves as co-creator and executive producer. Executive producers include Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Rose Lam. Directors include Kantemir Balagov, Jasmila Bani, Ali Abbasi, Peter Hoar, Jeremy Webb, and Liza Johnson. The show is a collaboration between Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions, as well as Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog.