The Last of Us Creators Used Real-World Science for Subtle…

Summary

Stalkers in The Last of Us season 2 have eyes that reflect white, inspired by real predators for a realistic and scary effect.
Showrunners aimed to make the stalkers' visual detail based on science, resembling cataracts.
Fans wait for Shamblers to be introduced in The Last of Us season 2, hinting at their possible appearance in season 3.

The Last of Us season 2 has already introduced a ton of new features that weren't in the Naughty Dog game, like new characters and fleshed-out storylines, but the showrunners have seemingly gone a step further with its infected in the HBO adaptation by implementing an interesting characteristic detail that is based on real-world science.

So far, fans of The Last of Us have been introduced to a range of Cordyceps-infused "people" in Season 2, with the likes of bloaters, clickers, and runners making their presence known in the most dire of circumstances. Viewers saw Tommy tackling a massive bloater as it ran rampant through Jackson, exploding fungal sacs, which contain a deadly mycotoxin, to attack the town's residents. Fans also saw how savage the show's runners were when Abby tried to escape them before coming across Joel and Dina, but there's one type of infected that showrunner Neil Druckmann previously called smarter, and that's the creepy stalkers. But little did fans know how smart these pesky creatures are, as it has been revealed that the real-world inspiration behind them lies in their visual detail.

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By Rachael Fiddis

The Last of Us Showrunners Reveal Stalkers’ Vision Is Inspired by Real Predatory Animals

Stalker woman in the last of us season 2

As reported by ComicBook, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have explained in their most recent The Last of Us Podcast, that stalkers in season 2 have a subtle eyesight detail that fans may not have picked up on, which includes retinas that reflect white, just like a dog, cat or any other animal's would that need to see better in the dark. In Season 2, Episode 5, titled “Feel Her Love," fans witness a group of stalkers in low lighting surrounding Ellie and Dina as they figure out how to strike their prey, and are able to do this due to their enhanced vision, where their eyes can be seen flashing white when a small glimmer of light bounces of their retinas, showcasing their predatory nature.

“We worked really hard on those. There are versions, you know… You get these sorts of things back because it’s a visual effect that we do, obviously. And there are versions where it’s like, ‘Oh, look, they’re ghosts. They’ve got these shiny…’ And you just keep pulling it back, pulling it back, and trying to make it as realistic as possible, the way that dogs or sheep or other animals, at night, their retinas will reflect back white. And something has happened inside the Stalkers to do something similar to their eyes. And it’s the barest thing. You don’t want them to look like Jawas from Star Wars, you know, so like we really fine-tune that stuff to make sure it’s just barely there.”

Neil Druckmann further explained that when the team were talking about how they would construct stalkers for the show, they also wanted the detail to come across about "how the cordyceps eats away parts of the eye,” adding that it was "almost like having cataracts." Druckmann said that including this small and initially missable feature for the stalker's eyes is "based in science,” as they wanted the terrifying infected to feel real and scary for viewers, almost like they were being hunted themselves and something that they would feel familiar with from watching nature shows or seeing it in real-world animals.

With only 2 episodes remaining of The Last of Us Season 2, some fans were disappointed that Shamblers, a highly aggressive and pretty disgusting type of infected, haven't shown up yet. In the game, these horrifying, walking lesion-filled clusters spray gaseous acid when they get near people and take massive amounts of damage before dying, so it seems as though viewers may have to wait until season 3 of the series to experience them, which is likely a good thing.

The Last of Us Season 2 streams on Max, leading up to the season finale on May 25.