Merle Dandridge is returning as Marlene from The Last of Us in the upcoming HBO series adaptation, reprising her role from both of the games. She will stand alongside The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal, who will play Joel, and Game of Thrones actress Bella Ramsey as Ellie.
The first season of the series will reportedly be based on the events of the first game. Joel is tasked with taking Ellie, who is immune to the cordyceps infection, to a hospital run by the Fireflies resistance group. Marlene is one of the leaders of the resistance group and was initially the person who tasked Joel with the mission to transport Ellie.
Dandridge will join a star-studded cast of actors and creatives. The TLOU voice actress is also a prominent on-screen actor and has appeared on other HBO projects such as The Flight Attendant as well as FX’s Sons of Anarchy as Rita Roosevelt. Also joining the cast is Gabriel Luna from big-name projects like Star Wars: Rogue One and Narcos. Luna is playing Tommy, Joel’s younger brother and a former member of the Fireflies. Beanpole’s Kantemir Balagox will direct the series, with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin set to write and produce.
While it’s currently unconfirmed if her story and character background will stay the same, it’s a good sign that the series is picking up the actor who originally voiced her. The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann has stated that the HBO series will “deviate greatly” in some aspects. Druckmann specified that the show would “move away from hardcore action and focus more on the drama of the character.” The creative director also added that “some of [his] favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story”.
Both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II are immediately available now on PlayStation 4. Recently, Part II also received a PS5 enhancement update that increased the game’s framerate to 60fps, as well as the option to lock the framerate at 30 or 60fps in the settings menu.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
