Writer for the HBO TV adaptation of The Last of Us vows to keep Ellie gay
Still from The Last of Us Part II. (YouTube)
The writer of the upcoming HBO adaptation of video game The Last of Us has confirmed that the character Ellie will be gay in the television version.
The original video game, released in 2013, follows Joel and Ellie as they venture across the United States in a post-apocalyptic landscape. It was released to critical acclaim and has since amassed a huge fan following.
The video game depicted Ellie as gay and showed her kissing her best friend Riley, and the trailer for the game’s sequel, which is due for release in May, showed her kissing another character called Dina.
Some The Last of Us fans were worried that the HBO adaptation would make Ellie straight to avoid controversy.
The same-sex kisses delighted queer fans, but the game’s creators also faced significant backlash on social media from fans who were not happy to see Ellie kissing girls.
Needless to say, some The Last of Us fans were a little concerned that the upcoming HBO adaptation of the game would scrub Ellie’s sexuality from the record in order to placate fans, CCN reports.
Y’all better keep the gay gay. Pls and thank you. Do not erase that representation pls. Anyways, I’m so excited for this!
Writer and producer of the show Craig Mazin answered fan questions on Twitter about the upcoming adaptation. When quizzed on whether or not Ellie would be represented as gay, he confirmed that fans have nothing to worry about.
You have my word.
— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) March 5, 2020
The same fan later tweeted their unbridled joy at learning that Ellie will be gay in the television adaptation of The Last of Us.
IF GOD HATES THE GAYS WHY DO WE KEEP WINNING?! Amazing!! This is gonna be the best tv show of 2021/2022 ??? https://t.co/5K5I0kUGJ9— barbara? (@lmj_black2pink) March 5, 2020
The game’s sequel caused controversy in 2018 when a same-sex kiss was censored by Disney.
There was some controversy in 2018 when a clip of the upcoming sequel to the video game was shown at the E3 gaming convention.
The clip from The Last of Us Part II showed Ellie kissing another girl, but people watching at home through Disney XD might have missed the moment. The platform, in an effort to censor inappropriate content, quickly cut away from the stream shortly after the kiss began.
Disney later claimed that the censored kiss had been an accident and they had actually meant to censor the next scene, one in which Ellie graphically slit a man’s throat.
