Killing Pedro Pascal’s character Joel on The Last of Us was obviously going to rock the boat. Whenever a lead character dies (and dies for real), it’s always hard for fans to accept. But Joel’s death on The Last of Us was pre-determined by The Last of Us—Part II video game, and was one of those critical story moments that just could not be changed, no matter how much fans and creators love Pedro Pascal. Happily, though, Pedro Pascal is NOT dead, and The Last of Us did not actually kill him. And that’s something that The Last of Us‘ creators would love for fans to remember.
Speaking to VarietyOpens in a new tab, showrunner and creator Neil Druckmann shares, “People had very strong reactions to whatever controversial story decision we made,” in killing of Pedro Pascal’s Joel.
And the series’ other showrunner Craig Mazin adds, “He [Game creator and showrunner Neil Druckmann] did a thing. Everyone lost their shit, and then I had to do that same thing, because he did the thing. I loved doing the thing, I thought it was great. The big complaint that I’ve gotten is, ‘Why did you kill Pedro Pascal?’ And I keep explaining, we didn’t kill him! He’s a man, he’s alive. He’s fine. And he’s in literally everything else. So I don’t know what the problem is!”
“Why did you kill Pedro Pascal?” is kind of a hilarious accusation to be levied against you, especially when, as Mazin points out, Pascal is everywhere, namely about to join the MCU’s First Family in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. But, when one is as beloved as Pascal, it’s easy to see how we would conflate Joel’s death with losing him. He is metaphorically dead on the show because he won’t appear as much now that Joel is gone. And that IS a sad loss.
