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Could THE LAST OF US Come True?!?

Could THE LAST OF US Come True?!?

The cordyceps brain infection that turns humans into terrifying monsters in The Last of Us is something that already exists in our world. So is it time to start worrying about Clickers and other fungus zombies?

Mike Cecchini
April 14, 2025

Welcome to Does it Fly? the podcast from Roddenberry Entertainment that puts your favorite sci-fi properties, inventions, and conceits to the test!

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Before we dive into today’s episode, we’d like to remind everyone that you can watch the video version of Does it Fly? on YouTube or on doesitflypod.com, and you can listen to us on Spotify, Apple, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. Keep an eye on our TikTok @DoesItFlyPod for some extra fun, too!

Now let’s give you the lowdown on today’s episode…

We are going to cut right to the chase on this one: Cordyceps, the brain infecting fungus that causes people to mutate into increasingly grotesque zombies in The Last of Us video games and the HBO TV adaptation, is very real. Of this, there is no doubt, as you’ll see in our episode and read below. But like any good sci-fi, horror, or fantasy storytelling, the secret isn’t so much in how realistic something is, but in how it obeys its own rules in-story.

After all, who the heck needs a story about a devastating pandemic that was exacerbated by global warming these days, right? It’s not like sci-fi and horror have ever been used to illustrate real world issues before. Why not just let escapism be escapism and leave all this uncomfortable real world stuff out of it?

In case you couldn’t sense the sarcasm (Does it Fly? is a Roddenberry podcast after all, and it’s not like Star Trek has ever been shy about taking our present moment to task via the denizens of the 23rd, 24th, and 25th centuries), the inherent realism of The Last of Us is an integral part of what makes it work. But it’s far from the only reason we’re so enamored with this disturbing sci-fi and horror hybrid. And that’s where Hakeem and Tamara come in

All this and more on the latest episode of Does it Fly?…and try not to eat any infected grain!

SUGGESTED VIEWING

One of the best things about The Last of Us is that the show is 100% accessible for folks who have never played the video games. It’s also, perhaps not coincidentally, one of the only truly great video game to screen adaptations we’ve ever seen. We based our conversation for this episode on the first season of the show, but if you’ve even watched the first two episodes, you can probably keep up. Oh, just watch the entire first season!

For some additional fungus-induced “fun” we also recommend the brilliant 2016 sci-fi horror movie The Girl With All the Gifts, which mines some similarly terrifying themes as The Last of Us.

And don’t forget, The Last of Us season 2 just kicked off on HBO and MAX so what are you waiting for? Go get caught up! Who knows? This could just be something in our future…

WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY?

Black Mirror is back with a brand new season on Netflix. Check out our episode on one of its most iconic episodes, “San Junipero” right here!

Whether fungus zombies or otherwise, we do occasionally take a look at the scarier side of genre entertainment from time to time. Like our episode on werewolves, for example.