The Last Of Us TV Showrunner Rattles Fans With Controversial Comments
Ahead of The Last of Us TV series arriving next month, it seems one of the showrunners has landed themselves in hot water.
29th Dec 2022 13:17
Images via HBO
The Last Of Us TV Showrunner Rattles Fans With Controversial Comments
Ahead of The Last of Us TV series arriving next month, it seems one of the showrunners has landed themselves in hot water.
29th Dec 2022 13:17
Images via HBO
Oh dear, the live adaptation of The Last of Us hasn’t even been released yet and it already seems to be ruffling a few feathers. While many are eager to see a new take on the iconic gaming story featuring fan-favourite characters Joel and Ellie, it seems the creators behind this new take may be dismissing the original game in the process.
Pushing Games Back
The controversy began after a feature with The Last of Us showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin was published by The New Yorker. The frustration appears to have stemmed from Mazin’s comments, who inadvertently dismissed the power of video games as a storytelling medium.
When discussing the changes and sacrifices made to adapt the screenplay for a televisual format, Mazin landed himself in hot water when he insinuated that games can’t have the same impact as a video game.
Mazin claimed that “when you’re playing… when you die you get sent back to the checkpoint. All those people [enemies] are back, moving around in the same way". He later added that “watching a person die, I think, ought to be much different than watching pixels die”.
The community has been quick to oppose this comment, sharing feelings that Mazin is disconnected from the medium of video games and the stories they tell. In an age where video game adaptations are improving, with huge success stories such as Sonic the Hedgehog, fans have found the comments to be somewhat dismissive.
Fan Backlash
Responses from fans to the since-deleted Twitter thread have expressed that Mazin is “invalidating video game experiences”, and that he’s in for a shock when “he discovers the rewind button on the remote control”. Others have shared apprehension over The Last of Us show following previous comments from actors that they were proud of not ever playing the game.
Mazin also landed himself in hot water earlier this month when speaking to the entertainment publication EMPIRE. It was here he stated that the characters of The Last of Us "didn't shoot anything out of their eyeballs", which he claimed, "is remarkably rare in games". Maybe it's time to keep quiet and let the show talk for itself.
While it’s hard to judge Mazin’s comments entirely from a written feature, it’s clear that it’s sparked a bit of resentment amongst the community. With only a few short weeks before The Last of Us airs on January 15th, it may be time for the folks running HBO to put in a bit of damage control.
About The Author
Daniel Hollis
Daniel is a former Guides Writer for GGRecon. Having originally focused on film journalism, he eventually made the jump to writing about games in 2020, writing for sites such as NME. Eurogamer, GamesRadar, Tech Radar, and more. After a short stint in PR, he is back in the world of games media writing about his favourite games, including Bioshock, Fable, or everything Fortnite and Xbox Game Pass related.
