After a lengthy and pricey production, The Last of Us is finally premiering on HBO on Sunday night. The series adapts the popular video game with Pedro Pascal in the role of Joel, a hardened smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie (Bella Ramsey), across a dangerous wasteland in a post-apocalyptic world. Despite their differences, the two form an unexpected bond while working together to survive.

Pascal came into this role experienced with this kind of thing. In The Mandalorian, he plays Din Djarin, a bounty hunter who must similarly escort and protect Grogu, aka "Baby Yoda," from dangerous threats. In a new chat with Entertainment Tonight, Pascal addressed these similarities when he was asked which of the two characters would be a better "carpool friend" between Ellie and Grogu. It's a tough choice for Pascal, though he seems to prefer Ellie, knowing what damage Grogu could do to him if he really wanted if things turned south. As Pascal said:

"Oh, shoot. Ellie can talk back, but Grogu can lift me with the force and toss me across the room, if he wanted to. Although he never would, and we know that."

Related: The Last of Us Creators Say They Don't Want Zombie Series to 'Run On and On and On'

The Last of Us Has Pedro Pascal in the Wasteland

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in The Last of Us
HBO

We can expect the tonal differences between The Mandalorian and The Last of Us to be vast. The Last of Us is inspired by a very bleak story, albeit very captivating. Some fans who are familiar with what happens with Joel and his daughter at the beginning of the story, based on what happens in the games, have said they're not quite sure they're emotionally ready to handle seeing certain scenes played out in live-action.

According to the early reviews, The Last of Us stands tall, with many critics already calling it the best video game adaptation ever made. The series is premiering with a near-perfect score of 98%, garnering great praise from reviewers lauding the show for remaining true to its source material while "digging deeper into the story," per the season 1 description on Rotten Tomatoes.

The series was developed for HBO by game creator Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. Along with Pascal and Ramsey, the series also stars Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Nick Offerman, Storm Reid, Murray Bartlett, Melanie Lynskey, and video game voice actor Troy Baker, the original Joel, in a special role.

The Last of Us premieres on Sunday, Jan. 15, on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. EST.