Prolific and veteran gaming voice actor Troy Baker has teased that fans have not “seen the last of Joel,” the popular character from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us series, and a character who is dead.
Baker said in an interview with Eurogamer, “I definitely know we’ve not seen the last of Joel, whether that be Naughty Dog or somebody else.”
Baker did not elaborate on this intriguing comment, but some are taking it to mean Joel could show up in a future game or other project in the future.
Joel died in the games, and he died on the HBO TV show as well, but fans have theorized that Naughty Dog could make a The Last of Us prequel, which could feature Joel. It’s also possible Joel shows up on the HBO show in the form of a flashback or other diversion from the timeline. The TV series is expected to return in 2027, and it will go back in time somewhat.
It’s possible Baker isn’t talking about the game or TV show series. He also said in the Eurogamer interview that Joel as a character has staying power as evidenced by people continuing to dress up as him for cosplay events, so it’s possible Baker was simply speaking generally about Joel.
Also in the interview, Baker said he hopes to see Joel “be proliferated and iterated on in multiple mediums, whether it be TV, film, more games, comic books.”
Naughty Dog has multiple upcoming single-player games in development, but we only know about one of them: Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The second game remains a mystery. Some believe it’s a third mainline The Last of Us game, while others believe it could be Uncharted 5.
In other news, Baker recently talked about how he wants to open a game studio of his own. Another gaming voice actor who did start a studio of his own, Abubakar Salim, told him, “Don’t do it” in part because it’s a “ruthless” space.