Amid the impressive run of The Last of Us, HBO made a surprising move by removing an iconic song in its official trailer that fans loved from the game.
HBO's The Last of Us has received widespread acclaim among fans of the franchise because the show has plenty of Easter eggs and accurately portrays scenes from the video game.
Before it premiered, its two trailers even used songs straight from the game, with the first one utilizing Hank Williams' "Alone and Forsaken" (from Part 1) while the longer trailer used A-ha's "Take On Me" (from Part 2).
Now, it looks like one of those songs was ultimately removed.
HBO Removes Iconic Song from The Last of Us Trailer
HBO re-edited The Last of Us official trailer to remove A-ha's "Take On Me," replacing it with generic background music.
"Take On Me" is an iconic song from The Last of Us Part II, with Ellie giving her own emotional rendition of A-ha's massive hit during the sequel.
As a result of this change, some fans have voiced their disapproval on Twitter, noting that the trailer got worse after the removal.
@_Gemma325 said that it's "such a shame" that "Take On Me" was removed, pointing out that the song gave her "goosebumps" when it played during the original trailer:
"I noticed this last night when rewatching the trailer. Such a shame! Gave me goosebumps when the song started playing…"
@TDAlexx claimed that the old trailer with "Take On Me" "just hit so much better:"
"I noticed the original got unlisted. Thank God I downloaded it before they put up this new one. The old trailer with take on me just hit so much better."
@AMirRamirez10 isn't a fan of the latest change from HBO:
"Too bad, the trailer was epic with that song."
@aaronfloor boldly claimed that the original trailer was "the most impressively scored and produced trailers for a TV show" that he's seen in a while:
"Whaaaaaat that’s kind of a drag. That was one of the most impressively scored and produced trailers for a TV show I’ve seen in a while."
The new trailer can be seen below:
Watch the original trailer that has "Take on Me" in the background below:
Why Did HBO Remove "Take on Me"?
It is unknown why HBO removed A-ha's "Take On Me" from The Last of Us trailer, but it might be due to licensing issues.
However, it's quite odd that the studio re-edited the trailer to remove the song almost two months after it premiered on YouTube on December 4. If it is licensing issues, then HBO would have removed the song in days rather than months.
Another possible reason why HBO removed the song is due to the song potentially being used in the already-confirmed Season 2.
Given that HBO's The Last of Us producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann revealed that the show's sophomore run would explore The Last of Us Part II, the studio might be saving "Take On Me" as a song that will be used for a potential spoiler-heavy plot point in Season 2.
Although some fans admitted that the song's removal made the trailer worse, this move is a minor setback compared to the show's consistently impressive run on HBO.
Hopefully, this issue doesn't take the momentum away from The Last of Us as it approaches its upcoming wave of installments.
A new episode of The Last of Us premieres on HBO every Sunday at 9 PM ET.
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