The Last of Us and the Resident Evil are not so different from each other and can be summed up within some points as both are set in an apocalyptic world with zombies on humanity’s tail. Though they are very similar story-wise, in reality, they are nothing alike as they convey entirely different stories as the show develops. The cinematographer for The Last of Us show said that, unlike Resident Evil which shows off their post-apocalyptic world filled with zombies, they do not call the infected zombies. This caused people to declare Resident Evil as one of the best zombie franchises out there.
Also read: Brutal Moments From The Last of Us That The Show May Include
They Are Not Zombies, They Are the Infected
The cinematographer for The Last of Us, Eben Bolter said that before they started filming the show, they decided on the fact that the zombie-like creatures will not be called zombies but will instead be called the infected. He further shared that saying the Z word was a no-no, it was banned on the set to speak of that word.
The infected are a crucial element away from being a zombie i.e., the infected are not dead unlike the zombies but are living hosts taken over by the cordyceps fungi. The fungi enter one’s brain to take complete control of it over a certain period, and unlike the zombies which can only be transferred if one is bitten by another, in The Last of Us one can transform into an infected by simply breathing in the fungi that is airborne.
Eben Bolter, the cinematographer for The Last of Us says,
“We weren’t allowed to say the Z word on set. It was like a banned word. They were the Infected. We weren’t a zombie show. Of course, there’s tension building and jump scares but the show’s really about our characters; The Infected are an obstacle they have to deal with.”
I get what you're going for, but Resident Evil also has a lot of themes about corporate oversight, late stage capitalism, and the efficacy of governmental organizations. I think Resi 7 in particular is very prescient considering current events.
— FractalCactus (@cactus_fractal) February 16, 2023
“People are the real monsters”
Resident evil: no it’s this 9 foot tall vampire girl that turns into an eldritch abomination— Dew “The Don” Scaletta (@DewDonScaletta) February 16, 2023
That's why I like RE. It's not trying to do the Romero "zombies as an allegory for X" thing. RE is about the zombies and how their existence shapes the world.
— Jim (@IgnacioCannas) February 16, 2023
What's interesting to me is that no matter how much people talk about being tired of zombie media, there's something about Resident Evil that works in spite of that? Maybe it's the campiness? Idk. I'm one of the people I'm describing and I don't know the answer it just works lol
— Ultimate Form (@sora_stan) February 16, 2023
Resident Evil honestly stays winning. It’s just a shame every single director that’s adapted it to live action hates it.
— mason (@zenskittles) February 16, 2023
And thats why this show is the best video game adaptation, of all time.
— Shawn Love (@WhySoShawn) February 16, 2023
Gene Park, a reporter from Washington Post said,
“This is why Resident Evil as an IP is unique: it says “we are all about zombies. our villains are zombies. the people “who are the real monsters” become zombies. the heroes become zombies. and when we’re not about zombies we’re about 9 feet tall vampire women”
Gene Park in his recent Twitter post claimed that now that The Last of Us has been steered clear from categorizing their infected from zombies, Resident Evil has to be the most unique multi-work out there portraying zombies. He added that the show is not devoid of zombies, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and all those who were monsters in the human world are all zombies.
The Adaptation of The Last of Us Is on a Roll
The Last of Us starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie has already been deemed one of the best series in the making. The show has record-breaking reviews and statistics, from both viewers and critics/reviewers, as the show has already achieved a 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been able to manage the score for a long time before dropping three percent, but 97% is still a massive boulder. The first season will run for 9 episodes created and directed by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.
Though the first season has not yet been released completely, the second season was confirmed after the show received such positive responses from fans and viewers from all over the world. The show turned out to be a huge success in its second episode itself. The game adaptation is taking over the internet in one fell sweep and is almost on par with other similar shows like The Walking Dead.
The show is also turning out to be super expensive as almost a budget of over $10 million is set for each episode which results in almost $100 million per season. Though taking into account the show’s popularity, it’s only a matter of time before they have an abundance of those.
The Last of Us is available for streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Twitter
