Does Joel deserve a solo game in The Last of Us?

Few characters in modern video games remain as present in discussions as Joel Miller. Even after the events of The Last of Us Part II, the community continues to debate not only his choices, but mainly what was never truly shown.

Between the prologue of The Last of Us and his encounter with Ellie, there’s a gap of almost two decades. It’s precisely in this space that the greatest theories, doubts, and interpretations arise about who Joel really became after losing Sarah at the beginning of the outbreak.

The discussion gained even more momentum after Part II. Revisiting Joel ceased to be merely an exercise in nostalgia. For many players, understanding his most violent years can completely change their interpretation of his actions, his traumas, and even the emotional impact of his departure.

Much of the fascination surrounding Joel stems precisely from the fact that the player has never seen his complete transformation. The games show the hardened, weary, and distrustful man, but only hint at the acts committed during the most brutal years of the apocalypse.

The most discussed theory within the community revolves around the period when Joel acted as a hunter and smuggler without any moral limits. The famous ambush in Pittsburgh is frequently used as evidence of this. Joel immediately recognizes the trap because he had already participated in similar actions in the past.

Exploring this period would open up space for a very different game from the original. Instead of the emotional journey between Joel and Ellie, the experience could focus on urban survival, territorial disputes, and morally degrading decisions within an even more unstable world.

There’s also a clear interest in seeing Joel at his physical peak. Before the advanced age and emotional exhaustion seen in the first game, he was probably more aggressive, faster, and more brutal. This would completely change the gameplay and combat dynamics.

After the sequel, part of the community began to view Joel in a more complex way. The character ceased to be seen merely as a protective protagonist and began to bear the weight of the consequences of his own choices.

Showing the acts committed during the "dark years" would help reinforce precisely this idea defended by Naughty Dog: no one crosses that world without leaving deep marks along the way.

There’s also an important element involving Tommy Miller. The brothers' relationship has always been surrounded by gaps. It’s known that they followed different paths before the events of the first game, but it has never been explained in detail what really caused the rift between them.

A project focused on this period would have the potential to show Joel and Tommy working together on missions, conflicts, and difficult choices. This’d give even greater weight to the brothers' subsequent estrangement and the contrast between their views on survival.

If Naughty Dog decides to revisit this past, the message would hardly be comfortable. The tendency would be to delve into a heavier and less heroic character study than previous games.

If the first title explored paternal love and Part 2 addressed revenge and its consequences, a story focused on Joel's lost years could explore the deterioration of humanity after the collapse of society.

The impact of this would be enormous, precisely because Joel is already a beloved character among the audience. Seeing his most cruel choices would place the player before an uncomfortable contradiction: witnessing the construction of the man that other survivors likely perceived as a threat.

This type of approach would also avoid turning Joel into a romanticized figure. Instead of merely reinforcing the character's charisma, the game would have room to show the psychological cost of surviving for decades in a destroyed world.

Although the idea of ​​a new game generates enormous anticipation, there’s a growing discussion about whether this narrative would work better outside of video games.

The adaptation of The Last of Us, for example, opened up space to explore periods never seen in games. Episodes focused on the early years of the infection or Joel's routine in Boston could deepen emotions and relationships without constantly relying on combat.

Comics also appear as an interesting alternative. A miniseries following Joel and Tess during their time as smugglers would have the freedom to work with dialogue, paranoia, and psychological strain in a more intimate way.

There’s also an important narrative advantage to this format. Other media can dedicate full time to emotional development without the need to repeat traditional gameplay cycles. This would allow for a more human, silent, and uncomfortable exploration of Joel.

The idea of ​​returning to Joel's past seems inevitable at some point. The character remains relevant because there are still unanswered questions within his story.

At the same time, a necessary caution is needed. Revisiting this period cannot become merely an attempt to revive a popular face from the franchise. The community's real interest lies in the character's complexity, not just nostalgia.

Perhaps that's precisely what makes this possibility so interesting. Joel survived the end of the world long before relearning how to live within it. And understanding this process could reveal an even more tormented character than the one presented in the main games.

That said, exploring Part 3 is more interesting. Games nowadays take a long time to be completed, and relying solely on time travel as a draw for fans of the IP might not deliver something as rich.