Joel Plays A Major Role In THE LAST OF US PART II, According To The Game's Director

For the longest time, and after the first trailer for The Last of Us Part II had dropped, fans of Naughty Dog's survival horror series wondered where Joel was — especially since the trailers released only focused on Ellie; leading some fans to believe that Joel wouldn't be part of the game at all.

While thinking that Joel wasn't in the sequel to the critically acclaimed The Last of Us may have been a bit extreme, the lack of Joel in the trailers really made it look like this was mainly going to be Ellie's game; this coupled with the fact that the trailer introduced Dina as a new character that may have replaced him altogether.

In a recent interview with IGN, Creative Director for The Last of Us Part II, Neil Druckmann, has recently revealed that Joel is, indeed, playing a major role in the game — although the relationship between him and Ellie is now a bit more complicated.

"Their relationship is strained," eveals Druckmann in regards to Ellie and Joel's relationship. "Some of it is because teenagers will be teenagers, and some of it is because of their history, which is why you haven’t seen them together a lot. So much of The Last of Us is about this duo and their dynamic and how they are together, how they play together. I will say Joel plays a major part of this game."

Fans were finally able to see Joel in the latest trailer for The Last of Us Part II, which was released during a State of Play presentation that was streamed earlier this week. While Joel may have finally shown up, all points to this still being Ellie's game much like the first one is intrinsically a Joel game.

Hopefully fans will get to see why Joel and Ellie's relationship has strained; after all, their father-daughter relationship was essentially what made the first game such a compelling story. We'll just have to wait until The Last of Us Part II releases on the 21st of February to find out.

Five years after their dangerous journey across the post-pandemic United States, Ellie and Joel have settled down in Jackson, Wyoming. Living amongst a thriving community of survivors has allowed them peace and stability, despite the constant threat of the infected and other, more desperate survivors. When a violent event disrupts that peace, Ellie embarks on a relentless journey to carry out justice and find closure. As she hunts those responsible one by one, she is confronted with the devastating physical and emotional repercussions of her actions.