HBO’s adaptation of the 2013 gameThe Last of Usis led by Joel Miller. A hardened survivor, his story is primarily defined by the loss of his child, Sarah, in the mayhem of outbreak day.
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WhileThe Last of Usseriesstays largely faithful to the source material, it’s certainly tweaked certain elements andintroduced new charactersto make the story more suitable to the medium of Television. HBO’s take on Joel is more nuanced than his game version. More of these changes are apparent as the story progresses forward and he and Ellie traverse across the post-apocalyptic wasteland formerly known as the land of dreams - the United States.
7Tough Guy Vs. Soft Guy
Joel is tougher and more jaded in the game as compared to HBO’s version. He is the primary playable character of the game, and therefore, his feats of strength are quite astounding.
The same, of course, cannot be said for on-screen Joel who is overall more sympathetic and a softer person. While yes, he is still hardened, and jaded from enduring years of trauma, he is certainly not as rough as the guy in the games. It also helps that Pedro Pascal lends warmth and affability to Joel’s character in the show.
6Joel’s Weapons Deal
In HBO’sThe Last of Usseason 1, episode 1"When You’re Lost in the Darkness" Joel agrees to smuggle Ellie because the Fireflies leader, Marlene promises him a fueled-up truck, guns, and supplies in exchange. He’s desperate to get to his brother, Tommy, and thinks it’s easier to make it a Firefly vehicle since they’re usually repurposed FEDRA stuff.
In the game, however, Marlene tells Tess and Joel that if they hand Ellie off to the group of Fireflies at the Capitol Building, they can come back and collect their weapons from her. “Double what Robert sold me,” she promises, following which Tess demands to see the weapons first. Tess goes off to inspect the merchandise while Ellie follows Joel back to his apartment.
5Survival Instinct Vs. Family Love
The minor but significant weapons deal vs. desperation to get to Tommy reflects that Joel from the HBO version cared about his estranged brother more than anything else. He wanted to get to Tommy in the nick of time because he thought his brother was dying and needed help. In the game medium, however, Joel’s primary motive was guns, a logical choice considering the merchandise would come in handy one day.
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This difference helped humanize Joel in the show and made it easier for viewers to sympathize with a man whose younger brother was missing.
4Joel And Tess' Dynamic
The HBO series evolved Joel’s bond with Tess. While still short of an actual romance, she still meant a great deal to him. In the game, the duo shares trust, but their relationship status has always been uncertain.
In the HBO series, Tess crawls into the bed she and Joel share and spoons him after spending the dayin a FEDRA lockup. While Joel doesn’t care to ask why she returned home late, he jumps at the sight of her battered face nonetheless. He tends to her wounds but still has walls up that prevent him from forming a real relationship with her. Seconds before her sacrificial death, Tess brings up her unrequited love, using the words, “I never ask you for anything, not to feel the way I felt…” as she implores Joel to get Ellie to Bill and Frank. Joel agrees because in his words, he “…made a promise to Tess. And she was like family.”
3Joel’s Partial Hearing Loss
While Joel isn’t deaf in the video games, he’s partially deaf in the HBO series. He admitted so inThe Last of Usseason 1, episode 4"Please Hold to My Hand," after Ellie pointed out she’d noticed he couldn’t hear too well from his right side.
Joel attributed his hearing loss to having been exposed to far too many gunshots and advised Ellie to keep her hearing and stick to her knife. The pandemic has certainly taken its toll on Joel, and his physical fatigue and partial hearing loss make him feel more human than his game version.
2Joel’s Crouching
Joel also doesn’t crouch as much in the TV series as he does in the game. The decline in his physical abilities and lack of stamina is normal for a person of his age.
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Joel turned 36 on outbreak day and twenty years later, he’s a 56-year-old man who faces difficulties climbing a flight of stairs. Showrunner Craig Mazin reflected on Joel’s physical health, saying the TV series tweaked with Joel’s crouching from the game because"55-year-olds can’t crouch for more than like three minutes! Tops! And then their back gives out"while adding that the series is"embracing frailty,“perPolygon.
1More Vulnerable
Joel is also more vulnerable in the TV medium than his game counterpart. At the end ofThe Last of Usseason 1, episode 3"Long, Long Time,” Ellie reads Bill’s letter addressed “To whomever and probably Joel.”
In the letter, dated June 21, 2025, Bill tells Joel how there’s always one person worth saving. He leaves all of his weapons and equipment to his former partner and asks him to use them to keep Tess safe. The last bit moves Joel, and he rushes out of the house to take a moment for himself. Joel is particularly vulnerable in this and many other moments such as opening up to Tommy about Ellie’s immunity inThe Last of Usseason 1, episode 6 “Kin.” He’s being real about the impact of the things he’s experienced since the outbreak which obviously adds more layers to his character.
