There is one death in particular in The Last of Us Part 2 that many are still struggling to come to terms with five years on from the game’s release. And, it turns out that this death was not only controversial for those of us in The Last of Us’ gaming community. Even many developers internally at Naughty Dog – the studio that made the game – questioned this decision.
Please be aware of major spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 below.
Right, if you have read this far, you will likely know exactly which death I am talking about. In the opening hours of The Last of Us Part 2, the first game’s protagonist Joel is beaten to death with a golf club by WLF member Abby.
YouTuber Kiwi Talkz recently asked former Naughty Dog artist Heather Cerlan if the studio knew that The Last of Us Part 2 – and Joel’s death, specifically – was going to cause a bit of a stir among fans, and it absolutely did. “Oh yeah, most of the studio was like, ‘really you’re going to…'” (at this point, she dithered a bit, and stopped elaborating on what had been proposed to avoid spoilers, but of course we all know what she was talking about). “I think the studio was pretty split on the outcome of what happens,” she soon continued, before admitting: “It was controversial internally, too.”
Prior to The Last of Us Part 2’s release, it leaked that Abby killed Joel, sparking a wave of online abuse and death threats aimed at both the character’s actress Laura Bailey and her infant son. “Every time I went online, that’s all I saw,” Bailey revealed as part of the game’s behind-the-scenes documentary, Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2. “Death threats and threats of violence.”
Because of the online abuse surrounding The Last of Us Part 2, the star of Naughty Dog’s next game received preparation for the role – and specifically the online reaction to it – from studio boss Neil Druckmann. Actress Tati Gabrielle revealed she had been given mental “bootcamp-ing” by Druckmann ahead of her turn as bounty hunter Jordan A Mun in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. “[Druckmann] was like, ‘Ignore it. No matter what, me and you, we’re going to make something beautiful. We’re going to make something that we’re proud of’,” Gabrielle said last year.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was first announced at the end of 2024, with a trailer featuring a retro futuristic energy that introduced Jordan A Mun. While we still don’t know a huge amount about Naughty Dog’s upcoming release, Druckmann revealed last March that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophecy explores the topics of “faith and religion”.
As for The Last of Us, last week actor Troy Baker told Eurogamer that he believes we will see Joel again, despite his death in Part 2.
