In the original Last of Us game, Bill is a lonely survivor the players meet who is heavily hinted to have had a romantic relationship with his partner Frank. We actually get to meet Bill and Frank in the upcoming HBO adaptation, and it looks like more of their romance will be fleshed out.
Talking to The New Yorker, game director Neil Druckmann, who is also working on the series, explains that the series will have a new treatment when it comes to Bill and Frank’s story, with an entire episode dedicated to their origin. Druckmann says:
“As awesome as that episode is, there are going to be fans who are upset by it… To me, the story we tell is authentic to the world. It’s authentic to the themes that we’re talking about.”
If anything, Bill and Frank’s relationship is also a different take on the show’s overarching theme about love. Druckmann explains it’s about “outward love and inward love—the people who want to make everybody better, and the people who want to protect particular people at any cost.”
If you ask me, Bill was one of the more interesting characters in the first game, and I was honestly kind of bummed we don’t get to see him in The Last of Us Part II (he does get mentioned by Ellie though). We don’t know exactly what Bill’s arc is going to be in the series, but I’m excited to watch Nick Offerman bring him to life.
Catch The Last of Us when it premieres on HBO Max on Jan. 16, 2023.
