New set photos from the upcoming HBO horror series, The Last of Us, hint at a new location not in the original game. Based on the 2013 Naughty Dog property of the same name, the new 10-episode series focuses on the relationship between grizzled survivor Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and post-apocalypse born teenager, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), as they trek across a zombie-infected country to find the headquarters of a militant faction called the Fireflies. Although Joel clearly wants no part of the mission, he quickly becomes aware of its significance when Ellie reveals that due to her natural immunity, she may be the key to stop the zombie infection plaguing the world.
The Last of Us originally began shooting across Canada in July of 2021. With the show’s story details held under wraps, fans have had to rely on casting calls and set photos from local visitors to confirm the accuracy of the show compared to that of the original video game. Even with Niel Druckmann, the designer of the original game, as a writer and director on the show, there have been hints to changes of both story and character. A recent casting call for a child actor revealed a major change to a key character in the series.
According to set photos posted to Reddit by u/robotlou2, the main characters of the upcoming HBO series The Last of Us may visit a location not seen within the original video game. When Joel and Ellie leave the Boston quarantine zone to head west, one of their stops was Pittsburgh, PA. It was at that location where Joel and Ellie meet two brothers, Henry and Sam, as they hide from local hunters while searching for a way out of the city. Recent set footage from Calgary revealed the first look of the two brothers soon after they team up with Joel and Ellie. Fans assumed the Canadian city doubled for Pittsburgh, but new set photos indicate that the city is in fact Kansas City, MO. Check out the set photos in the post below:
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In the first photo, a large sign plastered on the outside wall of a building advertises a local storage facility with climate control and 24-hour security called “Kansas City Self Storage.” A second image shows a close-up of a license plate on a vehicle covered in dirt to imply age. The plate is from the state of Missouri, adding further evidence that the location is indeed Kansas City and not Pittsburgh.
The question remains about whether or not the Kansas City location will replace Pittsburgh in the story or if the Midwestern city an additional stop on Joel and Ellie’s journey. If the series’ plot follows closely to that of the original PlayStation game, it appears likely that Kansas City will replace Pittsburgh in terms of story. According to the original game, Henry and Sam do not make it out of Pittsburgh alive, thus the Pennsylvania city is their only location in the game. If the events hold true in the television adaptation, Kansas City may then be Henry and Sam’s sole locale. But with The Last of Us still in production and slated for a 2023 release, more changes are bound to be revealed.
