HBO’s The Last of Us will be available in American Sign Language on Max
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
The second season of HBO’s The Last of Us will include support for American Sign Language when it premieres on Max on April 13, the streaming platform has announced. It will join movies on Max that offer ASL as an option, including Barbie, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The Last of Us with ASL will feature professional Deaf performers Daniel Durant (CODA) and accessibility advocate Leila Hanaumi. We don’t have footage of the show in American Sign Language yet, but below is an example of Hanaumi’s previous work on Barbie.
“We are thrilled to expand our ASL program and debut our first HBO Original series in ASL with The Last of Us,” Naomi Waibel, senior vice president of global product management at Warner Bros. Discovery, said. “This debut brings the show to life in an authentic and fully accessible way for Deaf audiences and is another meaningful step towards our goal of offering an inclusive streaming experience.”
ASL will also be added to The Last of Us season 1 on March 31, allowing some time to catch up before season 2. Max’s commitment to American Sign Language is part of a growing and welcome movement to consider Deaf and hard of hearing audiences in entertainment, from video games to the Super Bowl. While The Last of Us game developer Naughty Dog hasn’t included ASL in its games, Part 1 and Part 2 for the PlayStation 5 feature an impressive suite of accessibility features, making it possible for more people to play through the games.
