Walton Goggins plays the role of The Ghoul / Cooper Howard in the Amazon Prime Video adaptation of Bethesda’s Fallout video game series. The series recently made its debut on the streaming service and features Goggins as a mutated ghoul who works as a bounty hunter in a post-apocalyptic world.
Given the show’s overall setting and background, Fallout has drawn comparisons to HBO’s The Last of Us. During an interview, Goggins spoke about the show’s setting and how the series explores the tropes of an end-of-the-world story in a new light. Here is what Goggins had to say about the show’s setting and why his words prove that Fallout‘s comparisons with The Last of Us are unfair.
Walton Goggins Talks Fallout‘s Post-apocalyptic Setting Akin to The Last of Us
Fallout is based on the video game series of the same name and takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where most of humanity lives in underground bunkers. The basic premise is reminiscent of HBO’s The Last of Us, which is also based on a popular video game franchise.
During an interview with IndieWire, actor Walton Goggins stated that despite Fallout being an end-of-the-world story like many other shows, he was attracted to it because the story was built around real fears resulting from such a situation.
“Shows about the world ending have been made for a hundred years. Now, given how scary things are, [we can] explore this bleak reality with humor and talk about things going on in the world — the 1 percent versus everybody else.”
Goggins made the above statement, explaining how Fallout was tonally different from most other media tackling the tropes of a post-apocalyptic story. At the same time, Goggins felt that the series explores the morality of a society privileged to live underground versus those who are forced to survive on the surface, without proper resources.
Walton Goggins’ Comments Make Fallout‘s Comparison With The Last of Us Obsolete
Given Fallout‘s core concept and basic premise, comparisons to the critically acclaimed The Last of Us were inevitable. However, Goggins’ comments about Fallout may have inadvertently proven why such comparisons are pointless, despite the cosmetic similarities between the two video game shows.
The most important point Goggins made during the aforementioned interview was that Fallout was rooted in the post-apocalyptic sub-genre, which has existed for many years in fictional media. While The Last of Us is arguably one of the best entries in the genre, it is by no means the first. Therefore, comparing Fallout with the series that came shortly before it seems unfair.
Secondly, Goggins’ statement also highlights that the focus of Fallout lies in the moral dynamics of a post-apocalyptic world. In contrast, The Last of Us embraces the survival nature that comes inherently with a post-apocalyptic story.
Meanwhile, Fallout also has a much lighter tone to some of the genre’s tropes while The Last of Us is dark and gritty. Ultimately, The Last of Us and Fallout differ in their focus, approach, and tonality. Goggins cleverly pointed out how Fallout was creating its own space in the post-apocalyptic sub-genre, making comparisons with The Last of Us obsolete.
Fallout is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and The Last of Us is available on Max.
