The Last of Us showrunners explain Joel's John Wick moment as a "God mode power up"

eurogamer.net:

The Last of Us' series finale aired earlier this week, breaking another viewership record for HBO in the process.

This episode concluded our journey to the Fireflies, and featured a particular sequence that many have dubbed Joel's «John Wick moment» (I am sure there is a Naughty Dog pun in here somewhere).

Now, co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin have shared a little bit more on this part of the series, calling it a «God mode power up».

Please note, there will be spoilers for The Last of Us (both show and game) below.

For a brief recap, in The Last of Us' final episode Joel and Ellie make it to Salt Lake City, where the Fireflies are working on a cure for the cordyceps outbreak that has devastated humanity. The Fireflies believe Ellie's immunity to the infection may be the answer, and plan to operate on her to help create a vaccine. However, this operation will kill her, and on realising this Joel goes on a gun-toting rampage through the hospital to save her.

Following this moment in the show, many (myself included) were left in awe of Joel's rather sudden adeptness at taking out a team of armed militia on his own. Up until this point in the show, unlike in the game, there had been a significantly reduced amount of violence and action.

In conversation with GQ, Druckmann and Mazin addressed this moment in the Salt Lake City hospital further, noting they show Joel's actions here in «all its awfulness and awesomeness».

When John Wick is mentioned, Mazin stated this was an «interesting point» as «John Wick does live in a slightly heightened world», and the showrunners have traditionally stayed «a bit more grounded» throughout The Last of Us' first season.

However, for the season finale, Mazin noted that Joel's