Craig Mazin has recounted the origin of the fungal infection that we see in The Last of Us, the new HBO series, revealing that it exists in real life.
The first reviews and reactions to The Last of Usthe new series HBO currently available on Sky e NOW, seem to bode well for the present and the future. Based on the video game series of the same name, this show aims to narrate its vicissitudes starting from a story that fans know well. Craig Mazinone of the two showrunners, revealed a few more details about thefungal infection which we will attend.
(Continue reading will lead to some
spoiler
of the series).
Anyone who has played video games knows it well, at the center of The Last of Us we find a real global pandemic triggered by a particular variety of fungus (Cordyceps). The events of the series, as well as those of the games, take place 20 years after the infection has spread, turning humans into “zombie” ravenous divided into several types.
During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter Craig Mazin revealed that this fungus actually exists in nature, even if it has no effect on humans, only infecting flora and fauna: “It’s real to the extent that whatever this fungus does, it actually does (even if it doesn’t affect humans). It’s something that’s been around forever. There are some amazing documentaries, and some pretty terrifying ones too. Now, what next if they evolved and entered us? – from a purely scientific point of view would they do to us exactly what they do to ants? I don’t think so. I doubt it. On the other hand LSD and psilocybin come from mushrooms. When I spoke to John (Hannah) I just told him about it, ‘What we’re doing in this scene is telling people that the mushroom has always been here.'”
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Neil Druckmann, co-showrunner of the series and creator of The Last of Us video game, was inspired by a documentary in creating his infection and the narrative world that fans have come to love and fear.