Last Of Us Cordyceps Fungus Is Turned Into Oddly Adorable Pixar Movie Art

The deadly Cordyceps fungal infection in HBO’s The Last Of Us is reimagined into an oddly adorable Pixar movie in stunning crossover fan art.

A new The Last of Us fan art imagines the deadly Cordyceps fungus as an oddly adorable Pixar movie. The wildly popular HBO series is based on the PlayStation game of the same name and centers on the relationship between survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they trek through a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic United States to get to the Fireflies. The show is set 20 years after a worldwide outbreak caused by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus, which transforms humans into deadly creatures sporting fungal growths from its body.

Digital artist Christopher Stoll took to Twitter to share his adorable fan art that imagines a Pixar film centered on The Last of Us‘ gruesome Cordyceps fungal infection. Check out the art below:

Similar in style to A Bug’s Life, the cute take on The Last of Us‘ deadly fungal infection imagines an anthropomorphized Cordyceps fungus attached to a beetle. Like the real-world Cordyceps, the poster’s tagline insinuates that the fungus characters will take control of the beetle’s body and force it to go where it desires.

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Why The Last of Us Has Been the Target for Fan Artists

With HBO’s The Last of Us universally lauded by both critics and audiences and consistently pulling in record viewership, it is understandable why artists would use the horror drama series as artistic inspiration. This is evident following the release of a highly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe film where artists flood social media with their own takes on the film’s popular characters and dramatic scenes from that particular entry. However, The Last of Us‘ established video game fanbase, coupled with Pascal’s current career, adds a different dynamic to artistic creativity.

Originally released in 2013, The Last of Us cultivated a healthy legion of a dedicated fanbase due to the game’s compelling narrative and revolutionary storytelling within the medium. As the adaptation’s premiere neared, longtime fans used their artistic abilities to imagine what the cast would look like as their favorite characters in memorable scenes from the game. With Pascal also starring in the Star Wars television hit, The Mandalorian, audiences used both projects as a source of inspiration for crossover fan art.

Both The Last of Us and The Mandalorian feature Pascal as a fatherly figure to a child protégé. The Star Wars series features the actor as a hardened bounty hunter of few words who embarks on a treacherous journey with a child, who he soon comes to love and protect. Artists undoubtedly see a parallel between the two shows, spurning them to create stunning art that mixes the two franchises. As The Last of Us continues on HBO, artists like Stoll will continue to show their fandom with incredible work.

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Source: Christopher Stoll/Twitter