The Last Of Us Vs The Walking Dead: Which Series Is Better?

The Walking Dead has been the dominant post-apocalyptic series on television since its AMC premiere on Halloween in 2010. Created by Robert Kirkman, the story follows Georgia Sheriff's Deputy, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and takes on the world in the aftermath of a global zombie pandemic. Having origins as a series published by Image Comics in 2003, the show has since branched off into six spin-offs, each with its own perspective within the overall narrative. Its reception may have gone through waves, but its success is undeniable even as the main storyline came to an end with its 8th and final season in 2022. It's a legacy that may very well outlast the creator with very little coming along to challenge or compare to it.

Enter The Last of Us, a 2013 video game created by Neil Druckmann and developed by the crew at Naughty Dog. Its release came during one of the more successful seasons of The Walking Dead and gave us a story in line with the acclaimed series as it takes place in a similarly dystopian world that has been ravaged by a mutated fungal pandemic. The journey of Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey) was praised so highly that it was only a matter of time until it became a movie or television series. Jumping forward to January 15, 2023, The Last of Us has now transitioned to live-action as a highly praised series on HBO. With so many similarities occurring within both stories, it's difficult not to compare the two even in their original formats. Now that The Walking Dead and The Last of Us have found themselves on equal media, we can properly compare the two.

The first season of The Last of Us has come to an end. With Joel and Ellie's plot across the United States, the series showed how far a father can go to save his children's lives. At the same time, the series attempted to distance itself from other genre icons such as The Walking Dead . However, the HBO Max series still showed important similarities with the AMC production.

In short, The Last of Us debuted after high expectations among fans. The series adapts the eponymous game developed by Naughty Dog, in 2013, for Playstation. Over the years, the franchise has been featured in several awards and, with the second title, won the Best Game of the Year trophy at The Game Awards 2020.

The plot of The Last of Us accompanies Joel and Ellie twenty years after the fall of humanity due to the evolution of the fungus Cordyceps. Both must overcome a country devastated by the infection to try to save the remaining humans.

The Similarities Between The Last of Us and The Walking Dead

HBO Max's The Last of Us series is similar to The Walking Dead in terms of genre. Both series are on the dystopian and post-apocalyptic spectrum. In addition, both productions try to move away from the zombie name. There aren't any mentions of the creatures in either series, but in short, The Last of Us and The Walking Dead portray humanity ravaged by zombies.

However, the script for The Last of Us also showed similarities to some of the options chosen by the production of The Walking Dead. Both series slow down the pace of the action to focus on the story of characters who don't have a huge importance to the overall plot.

In The Last of Us, episode three built up the love relationship between Bill and Frank. However, they both die in the same episode and leave no legacy for Joel and Ellie's relationship. You can lose count of how many times The Walking Dead resorted to the same style. Something similar to what happened with the chapter “Here's Not Here”, from the 6th season, in which the series chose to leave the conflicts of Alexandria aside to build the character of Morgan.

Which was better?

The Walking Dead lasted longer. By AMC, the series had eleven seasons and remained on the air for more than 10 years. The series reached peak ratings in the seventh season, at which point the villainous Negan made an appearance. After that, it declined and never returned to the same level as previous years.

On the other hand, The Last of Us series just premiered on HBO Max. Plus, audiences know exactly what to expect for the series finale . Plus, viewers don't expect The Last of Us to exceed two seasons. That's because the base materials of each one are very different.

Within the same genre, The Last of Us and The Walking Dead present different concepts and approaches. In short, the first focuses on the evolution of a unique father-daughter relationship. The second, on the consolidation of a group and how humans continue to represent the real threat even in a world ravaged by creatures.