The Last Of Us Creators Explain The Real Scientific Inspiration For Episode 2 S Zombies

As noted by ScreenRant, The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann and series showrunner Craig Mazin recently revealed the real scientific inspiration behind the series chemically connected Cordyceps zombies. The new HBO show The Last of Us is an adaptation of Naughty Dogs’ acclaimed 2013 action-adventure game series. Both versions of The Last of Us take place in a hardened, post-apocalyptic America where an epidemic has devastated humanity. The outbreak began in 2003 after a mutated strain of Cordyceps fungus turned its victims into vicious creatures. With most of humanity wiped out, civilization breaks down, and the remaining survivors are forced to adapt to a new world.

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Following episode 2 of The Last of Us, Druckmann and Mazin explained many aspects of the show’s writing and production during HBO Max’s The Last of Us | Inside the Episode YouTube series. When the pair were reflecting on the chemical connection that Cordyceps infection victims share, Druckmann explained that the idea of having the infected share a bond like an actual fungus was an addition to a pre-established concept. The showrunner then stated that he took inspiration from the Wood Wide Web, which is the Mycorrhizal networks plants and fungi use to communicate.

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Craig Mazin Came up With the Idea for Chemically Connected Cordyceps Zombies

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Druckmann said, “Craig had this idea that I loved, which is just like the way fungus operates, is sometimes it’s like the largest organisms you could have in the forest. It’s a single organism that could just communicate to different parts of it. It’s like, if you touch a tendril here, a mile away, you could wake up a horde of infected that will now, like, come after you.”

Mazin noted, “Indeed, there is this thing called the Wood Wide Web. Fungus can communicate chemically over insane distances. They are remarkable organisms, and unfortunately, in this case, also terrifying.”

HBO’s version of The Last of Us has already made it clear that the show plans to expand the world and narrative of the game to provide viewers with a more realistic portrayal of an outbreak. Likewise, the series of events that led to the devastation caused by the Cordyceps outbreak have been slowly revealed in the first two episodes of the new series. The series premiere shows that Joel, Sarah, and Tommy avoid eating food products containing wheat. There’s also a news broadcast playing in the first episode that talks about disturbances in Jakarta. Then in the second episode’s opening sequence, which takes place in Jakarta, the Indonesian government takes mycologist, Dr. Ratna, to examine one of the early cases of human Cordyceps infection.