The Last Of Us' Showrunners Were 'Ruthless' In Their Pursuit Of Creating The Perfect Clickers
"The Last of Us" takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by a fungal infection, with most humans throughout this wasteland having been transformed into bloodthirsty abominations known simply as "Infected." These Infected are controlled by the Cordyceps fungus growing within their brains, and while every one of these monsters pose a dangerous threat to humanity — the second episode of "The Last of Us" shows that not all Infected are cut from the same cloth.
Early in the episode young survivor Ellie (Bella Ramsey) asks smugglers Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Tess (Anna Torv) about the rumors she's heard within the Boston QZ – rumor's about "Super-Infected" with special abilities, including "ones with split-open heads that see in the dark like bats." Unfortunately for the survivors, they run into this special type of infected (known as a "Clicker" for the telltale sound it makes) shortly thereafter, when passing through an abandoned museum.
Suffice it to say, the Clickers are downright terrifying: blind, shambling monsters with fungus exploding from their skulls, who would rather rip apart a human host than infect them. According to showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the team put an absurd amount of effort into creating the perfect look for the series' Clickers — creating a monster that would appeal to fans of the show as well as fans of its video game source material.
The showrunners created a Clicker that was terrifying and true to the source material
In a video posted to @TheLastofUsHBO on Twitter, showrunner Craig Mazin explains that the process to craft the perfect Clicker began well before any shooting took place — when he assembled an "army" of people to bring these monsters to life on the silver screen. Prosthetics Designer Barrie Cower, in particular, played a major role in crafting the look of these new Clickers; working directly from the original concept art that Neil Druckmann and his team had used for "The Last of Us" video game.
"Neil and I were ruthless in our pursuit," said Mazin. "The first time I got to see the full prosthetics, I got tears in my eyes," added Druckmann. "It captured a lot of the things we were trying to do with the game, but it was there in real life." Beyond just crafting the perfect prosthetic makeup for the Clickers, Mazin says they hired actors who had actually played "The Last of Us" and were familiar with the Clicker's shambling, erratic movements within the game.
Mazin also explained that they wanted to make sure that the Clickers lived up to their terrifying reputation within the game, and said they were extremely happy with the final look and feel of these abhorrent monsters on-screen. The sheer amount of time and effort that went into perfecting these Clickers is certainly very impressive, and shows once again how dedicated the showrunners are about staying faithful to "The Last of Us" video game.