Back when Naughty Dog revealed The Last of Us Part II during the final moments of 2016’s PlayStation Experience event, the game’s writer and creator, Neil Druckmann, confirmed that Ellie, not Joel, will be the main playable character in the highly anticipated sequel to the 2013 survival-horror release. In addition to his main character confirmation, Joel was barely featured or mentioned in any of the trailers before the recent State of Play release date trailer. So, naturally, fans of the first game began to grow concerned about Joel’s role in TLOU 2.
Following the State of Play stream, Naughty Dog held a press event where members of the media got to experience two levels from The Last of Us Part II, and in addition to that, Neil Druckmann did an interview with IGN, where he discussed the state of Joel and Ellie’s relationship, and he also confirmed that the first game’s protagonist will have a major role in the upcoming sequel.
“Their relationship is strained. Some of it is because teenagers will be teenagers, and some of it is because of their history, which is why you haven’t seen them together a lot,” said Druckmann during his chat with IGN. “So much of The Last of Us is about this duo and their dynamic and how they are together, how they play together. I will say Joel plays a major part of this game.”
Before Naughty Dog released the latest bit of gameplay, players were wondering if Joel was going to be dead in The Last of Us Part II, but thanks to the latest footage, it’s been confirmed that he’s alive in the sequel. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he’s going to make it out of the sequel alive.
Some are speculating that Joel might end up being the main villain in The Last of Us Part II and that Ellie will end up having to take him out during the game’s final moments. Troy Baker, who is the voice actor for Joel, recently spoke at a Comic-Con event, where he said that, in his opinion, Joel probably sees himself as a villain. Also, some think that, because of how the first game ended, Joel was the true main villain in The Last of Us. So, Naughty Dog may make it more clear in the sequel.
It won’t be long until we get the answers we’re looking for, because The Last of Us Part II will come to the PlayStation 4 on February 21.
