HBO
Based on the wildly popular video game of the same name, “The Last of Us” is set to make its anticipated premiere on Sunday, January 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.
If you don’t have cable or don’t have HBO, you’ll be able to watch new episodes of “The Last of Us” via HBO Max after they air on HBO, but HBO Max doesn’t offer a free trial, so here are some other options for watching the show online for free:
Heavy may earn an affiliate commission if you sign up via a link on this page
DirecTV Stream
DirecTV Stream has four different channel packages: “Entertainment,” “Choice,” “Ultimate” and “Premier.” HBO/HBO Max is available as an add-on to any of the packages (if you’re planning on keeping it long-term, you can get three months of HBO Max for free if you add it to “Choice” or above), and you can select any package and any add-on you want with your free five-day trial:
Once signed up for DirecTV Stream, you can watch “The Last of Us” live or on-demand on the DirecTV Stream app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Samsung TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the DirecTV Stream website.
If you want to watch later, you can watch “The Last of Us” on the HBO Max app (use your DirecTV Stream credentials to sign in), which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet.
Hulu
Whether you already have Hulu or you want to sign up for a new subscription, HBO/HBO Max is available as an add-on to either Hulu or Hulu with Live TV. If you’re a new subscriber, you can start a free 30-day trial of regular Hulu plus the HBO add-on:
Once signed up, you can watch “The Last of Us” live on the Hulu app, which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Fire Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or Series X/S, PlayStation 4 or 5, Nintendo Switch, Samsung TV, LG TV, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), iPhone, Android phone, iPad or Android tablet. Or you can watch on your computer via the Hulu website.
If you want to watch later, you can watch “The Last of Us” on the HBO Max app (use your Hulu credentials to sign in), which is available on your Roku, Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV or Firestick, Apple TV, Chromecast, any device with Android TV (such as a Sony TV or Nvidia Shield), Samsung Smart TV, PlayStation 4 or 5, Xbox One or Series X/S, iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet.
‘The Last of Us’ Preview
Based on the very popular video game of the same name, “The Last of Us” is a post-apocalytpic drama that takes place 20 years after civilization as we know it has been destroyed. It stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie; the actors who voiced those characters in the video game, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, are appearing on the show, but as different characters.
The HBO press release teases:
Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
The show co-stars Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence.
The show has been lauded by critics so far. The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg wrote, “HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ is by far the best video game adaptation ever made for the big or small screen,” but he wrote that even that doesn’t quite do the show justice as to just how good it is.
Variety’s Daniel Daddario wrote, “What works about ‘The Last of Us’ works well enough that one sees the near future in which the show winds up among television’s best. The raw material, including a poignant and thoughtful curiosity about what it might be like to live through catastrophe, is there. But for all that the fall was not the fault of humanity in this telling of our demise, I hope, in seasons to come, to see still more of the world beyond our heroes’ relationship. ‘The Last of Us,’ at its core, argues that the world is worth fighting for; showing us more of it will only strengthen that case.”
And Rolling Stone’s Alan Sepinwall called it “HBO’s next big hit,” writing, “Among the many compliments I can give HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ is that it eventually made me forget that it’s based on a video game. … It is essentially a smarter and much better-executed ‘The Walking Dead.'”
“The Last of Us” premieres on Sunday, January 15 at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on HBO.