Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann Has Been ‘Bootcamp-Ing’ Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s Tati Gabrielle on The Last of Us Part 2 Online Hate

Back successful 2020, Naughty Dog, the workplace down The Last of Us Part 2, arsenic good arsenic Abby histrion Laura Bailey and manager Neil Druckmann, responded to the online harassment and decease threats they had received pursuing the game's release.

Fast guardant to 2025, and Druckmann has been “bootcamp-ing” Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet’s Tati Gabrielle connected The Last of Us Part 2 online hatred that occurred 5 years agone successful mentation for what mightiness beryllium coming arsenic a effect of simply playing the protagonist successful Naughty Dog’s upcoming video game.

Naughty Dog revealed Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet astatine The Game Awards 2024. It features a star-studded formed that includes Tati Gabrielle from the Uncharted movie arsenic protagonist Jordan A. Mun, and Kumail Nanjiani of Marvel's Eternals arsenic a antheral called Colin Graves.

In a March interrogation with Alex Garland, the writer of zombie movie 28 Days Later, Druckmann talked candidly astir the improvement process, confirming Intergalactic had been successful the works for 4 years already.

"I gag astir this with the team. We made a game, The Last of Us 2, we made definite originative decisions that got america a batch of hate. A batch of radical emotion it, but a batch of radical hatred that game," Druckmann said, to which Garland joked: "Who gives a shit?"

"Exactly," Druckmann added. "But the gag is like, you cognize what, let's bash thing that radical won't attraction arsenic overmuch astir — let's marque a crippled astir religion and religion."

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet takes spot successful an alternate humanities timeline and features a "pretty salient religion," too, which has "changed and bastardized and evolved" implicit the years.

"This full religion takes spot connected this 1 planet, and past astatine 1 point, each connection stops," Druckmann teased. "And you're playing a bounty huntsman that's chasing her bounty, and she clang lands connected this planet.

"So galore of the erstwhile games we've done, there's always, like, an state with you," helium said. "I truly privation you to beryllium mislaid successful a spot that you're truly confused astir what happened here, who are the radical here, what was their history. And successful bid to get disconnected this satellite — again, nary 1 has been heard from this satellite for 600 years oregon truthful — if you ever person hoped to person a accidental to get off, you person to fig retired what happened here."

Now, speaking to Entertainment Weekly arsenic portion of promotion of The Last of Us Season 2, Gabrielle revealed Druckmann’s mentation arsenic she begins beingness arsenic not conscionable a movie and TV star, but a video crippled star.

"Neil's been bootcamp-ing me," she said. "I cognize Troy's experience, I cognize Ashley's experience… I cognize Laura Bailey's experience."

As EW pointed out, Bailey endured online hatred simply due to the fact that she played the quality Abby, who kills Joel. Gabrielle has besides received racist and misogynistic online hatred pursuing the Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet reveal, she said.

"I got a batch of love, but determination was a batch of hatred implicit maine being a woman, maine being a pistillate of color, maine having my caput shaved, each these things that I didn't adjacent really initially spot — I'm retired of the societal media zeitgeist for that crushed — but erstwhile I did, Neil was like, 'Ignore it. No substance what, maine and you, we're going to marque thing beautiful. We're going to marque thing that we're arrogant of.'"

Gabrielle said that due to the fact that she is entering the satellite of video games for the archetypal time, she is trying to hole herself arsenic champion arsenic possible.

"This is simply a satellite — video games — that I've ne'er stepped into before. So I don't privation to enactment 1 happening successful my caput of expecting it's going to beryllium this mode and past it's not, and past I'm unprepared oregon instrumentality it excessively lightly," she says.

Gabrielle besides concisely touched connected the taxable of faith, which Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet volition revolve around.

"The question of religion is not achromatic and white," she said. "When you initially deliberation of faith, you deliberation of religion, which is simply a portion of it, but there's besides religion successful oneself. There's religion successful your situation oregon your community. All that religion means is, what are your beliefs? What are the things that you anticipation for? Faith sounds flowery, but we each acquisition it time successful and time out. What is your crushed for waking up?"

Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is not expected to merchandise until 2027 astatine the earliest. It’s a beauteous agelong wait, but speaking to IGN connected the reddish carpet up of The Last of Us Season 2 premiere, Druckmann said that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is not lone playable close now, but “really good.”

“I volition accidental we are playing it astatine the bureau and it's incredible,” Druckmann teased. “It's truly good. I'm truthful excited to yet enactment gameplay retired into the satellite and amusement radical astir it, due to the fact that we conscionable showed you the very, very, precise extremity connected the iceberg. The crippled goes beauteous heavy beyond that.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].