HBO Announces ‘The Last Of Us’ Will soon stream in american sign language on max
HBO on Wednesday announced its original series The Last Of Us will soon be available to stream on its Max streaming service in American Sign Language (ASL). The special version will debut with next month’s Season 2 premiere, which drops on Sunday, April 13. HBO boasts Max is “the first streaming platform to offer [an] ASL version alongside premiere episodes of a major series.” Season 1 in ASL will be available on March 31.
The ASL translation in The Last Of Us is performed by Daniel Durant.
According to HBO, today’s news represents an “expansion in availability of ASL programming continues to build on Max’s commitment to create a premium and accessible streaming experience for all subscribers.” The Last Of Us in ASL follows ASL versions of Warner Brothers’ films such as Barbie and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. HBO notes its so-called “With ASL” titles are featured in the Max app alongside key art with the sign language symbol. Beyond ASL, HBO says Max supports accessibility features such as audio descriptions, closed captions, screen reader support, and much more.
“We are thrilled to expand our ASL program and debut our first HBO Original series in ASL with The Last Of Us,” Naomi Waibel, Warner Brothers Discovery’s senior vice president of global product management, said in a statement. “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.”
That The Last Of Us is getting the ASL glow-up is, while certainly notable, not exactly new or novel. The National Hockey League, or NHL, has worked with Deaf advocacy company PXP to build ASL-centric broadcasts of the league’s games for Deaf fans. Last year, I posted an interview with PXP founder and CEO Brice Christianson about the partnership, which includes the first ASL version of the annual Winter Classic game. A fellow CODA, Christianson called the NHL “pioneers” for its trailblazing work on the “NHL × ASL” series. This year’s Winter Classic, played on New Year’s Eve, saw the Chicago Blackhawks host the St. Louis Blues at Wrigley Field. The Blues won, 6-2.
The Last Of Us series is an adaptation of the popular video game (for PlayStation and Windows) franchise of the same name. It’s developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. A third season of the show is currently in development.
