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The Last of Us Part 2 finishes capturing its main characters’ performances

Charles Singletary Jr.
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The Last of Us Part II 2 motion capture development complete
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Naughty Dog has established itself as a premier game development studio and fans are eagerly awaiting the team’s next project: The Last of Us Part 2. The game continues the story of Ellie and Joel as they fight to survive five years after the original game and the actors for both characters have wrapped up their motion capture performances.

Vice President of Naughty Dog and Creative Director Neil Druckmann shared a few updates on The Last of Us Part 2’s production over the last few days, including the one below with Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson. The two are the actors for Joel and Ellie, respectively, and, with Druckmann’s tweet, it looks like their performances for the game are complete.

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And that’s a wrap on Ellie, Joel, and the most ambitious cinematic shoot we’ve ever done. Tears were shed… #TheLastOfUsPartII pic.twitter.com/mRnlP54u4N

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) April 18, 2019

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Johnson put together an endearing performance as Ellie in the first The Last of Us, but it seems like she’s about to establish the character as a complete force of nature if the released trailers for Part 2 are any indication.

The reveal trailer for the game features Ellie singing while playing the guitar and, after Joel enters the home she’s in and passes by bodies it seems she’s responsible for, she declares that she’s “gonna find” and “gonna kill every last one of them.” The trailer begins with a shot of the Firefly group’s logo, so it seems like that’s where her anger is directed. In the gameplay demo shown at E3 2018, we also get to see the more dangerous Ellie in action.

Baker established Joel as a heart-broken and cold survivor who evolved into a father figure for Ellie over the course of the first game and it is possible that his decision at the end of that game has lead to this major conflict with the Fireflies in The Last of Us Part 2. There’s a mysterious cult in the sequel as well, but their motivations and origins are unknown.

The timing of this crucial milestone in production should bode well for any gamers that hoped The Last of Us Part 2 would see the light of day before 2019 closed out. Nothing is for certain until the game goes gold, but knocking out all the cinematics in April is a good sign.

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Charles Singletary Jr.
Charles Singletary Jr.
I'm a Birmingham, AL raised author, journalist, and gaming enthusiast currently residing in San Antonio, TX. My work has…
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The Last of Us on PC has launched in a dire state. Although I haven't experienced as many issues as some players are reporting, the consensus is clear: the game is buggy, poorly optimized, and underbaked. It's currently sitting with a Mostly Negative review status on Steam, which is typically reserved for the most broken games, like Battlefield 2042. 

Consider yourself warned if you want to jump into Joel and Ellie's story on PC, especially if you just finished off the excellent HBO series. For players who already have the game, there's a particular issue you should be aware of that relates to Nvidia's Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), as well as demands on your system that go far beyond the recommended specs.
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HBO viewers were rocked Sunday night by the finale of The Last of Us, which brought the iconic ending of Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed game to life in live-action. It was an extremely faithful adaptation, with no huge deviations from the source material. However, a key change was made that will help the show more gracefully transition into its adaptation of The Last of Us Part II.
Note: Spoilers for The Last of Us TV show and The Last of Us Part II video game to follow.
At the climax of The Last of Us Season 1's final episode, we see Joel annihilate most of the Fireflies and doctors at the Salt Lake City hospital as they prepare to operate on Ellie to get a cure, which would have killed her in the process. It's a chilling sequence that hits the same dubious, morally horrifying notes as it did in the game, and little is changed.
We see Joel kill the surgeon about to operate on Ellie after he picks up a scalpel and says he won't let Joel take her. Joel shoots him in cold blood, but does not kill the nurses assisting him. As he walks out of the room with Ellie, a shot lingers on the face of the now-deceased surgeon, punctuating Joel's massacre.

That may sound like a small cinematic altercation, but that lingering shot is very meaningful to those of us that played The Last of Us Part II. In the original game, we don't think much about Joel's victim; he's just some nameless doctor. In Part II, however, we meet that doctor's daughter, Abby, who's on a quest for revenge. What's a thoughtless action for Joel becomes deeply personal for someone he's never met.
By adding in that extra shot, the finale more confidently sets that up. Even if casual viewers don't know it yet, the groundwork is being laid for something that will be very important in the next season and makes it clear that the show knows where it's going.
The finale further teases what's to come with a smart bit of casting. Eagle-eyed fans may notice that one of the nurses during the scene is played by Laura Bailey, who portrays Abby in The Last of Us Part II. It's likely just the show paying tribute to the game's cast (as it did in episode 8 with Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the video games), but it's also another way to tease what's to come in the next season. Abby is coming for Joel. Prepare your golf balls.
Of course, when Naughty Dog released The Last of Us in 2013, it didn't yet know that this doctor would play such a pivotal part in the sequel's story, so not as much focus was put on him in the game. The developers retroactively tried to correct this with a retelling of the sequence from Abby's perspective in The Last of Us Part II and updated models in the game's remake.
Showrunners Craig Maizin and Neil Druckmann have the benefit of knowing this moment's importance from the start and not being locked to Joel's third-person perspective. They can now take the time to linger with a shot like this, emphasizing what Joel has done and laying the groundwork for what comes next. It's a short and subtle shot that slightly deviates from the original game, but it's also something that could only be done in this TV show and will certainly be hugely important for the show as we head into season 2.
The Last of Us is available to stream on HBO Max.

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