The Last of Us: Who Is Mr. Adler? Meet Brad Leland’s New Character

HBO introduced us to a great adaptation of a notable PlayStation exclusive, Last of Us, released in 2013, and it seems that the show is gaining similar success. The journey of Ellie and Joel is closely depicted as it’s in the game, which fans welcome with both hands. Of course, for a show to be a good adaptation, showrunners had to add some new characters and more context to the scenes so the new viewers would understand the story and circumstances of the Last of Us world. In this article, we will discuss one character that appeared in HBO’s Last of Us, Mr. Adler, portrayed by Brad Leland.

Brad Leland portrays a supporting character in the Last of Us TV show. He was a neighbor of Joel in Austin before the infection outbreak spread around the world and was seen in the first episode when the outbreak began. Adler’s character isn’t in the Last of Us game, making him the original character for the show. Danny Adler is last seen as a runner after his mother-in-law, Nana, turns and bites him and his wife, Connie. 

We will discuss if Danny Adler will appear again in the show, his background, and what happened to him after the infection outbreak. Furthermore, we will explain if the character appears in the Last of Us game. If you are interested, stay with us until the end.

Who is Mr. Adler in HBOs Last of Us?

The Last of Us TV series fast became one of the world’s most popular TV shows. The way the showrunners adapted the story from source material impressed even the most demanding gamers, which was shocking. After a few failed released adaptations of video games, fans were skeptical about every new project, but thankfully, The Last of Us didn’t disappoint.

The story and worldbuilding of the game impressed gamers and critics back in 2013, and the showrunners realized that this aspect of the Last of Us game was the strongest and capitalized on that. Of course, it’s only a few episodes, but Last of Us already looks like a show worthy of its source material.

Nevertheless, despite the great story and characters of the Last of Us game, TV shows are indeed different media, and showrunners needed to fill in the gaps between the gameplay and cinematic scenes from the original game.

The first episode already showed differences and original ideas that needed to be included to make sense of the show’s storyline. For example, Joel’s daughter Sarah fixes her father’s watch for his birthday, which isn’t shown in the game. On the other hand, HBO’s LOU Sarah goes to the watchmaker and pays for the repair of the watch. Furthermore, the scene also shows viewers that something isn’t right in Texas because military vehicles are moving nonstop around the area.

Sarah even interacts with the store owner’s wife, who is already panicking about what is happening around them and even shoos Sarah home to get somewhere safe.

The severity of the situation is present in these scenes, but also the calm before the storm, which is where Mr. Adler’s character comes in. Danny Adler is played by Brad Leland and is only a supporting character in the first episode of the Last of Us. He lives with his wife, Connie, and his mother-in-law, whom the Adlers call Nana.

On the morning of the 26th of September, 2003, the day the infection outbreak occurred, Sarah and Joel are preparing to go to school and work, respectively.

Before they go, Mr. Adler greets the Millers and asks specifically Sarah when she will come to visit and that his wife Connie is asking for her. Despite the reluctance, Sarah agrees to visit the Adlers after school, while Joel dismisses the conversation telling his neighbors they are in a hurry.

The interaction between Mr. Adler, feeding Nana with biscuits, and Millers shows how they are a strange bunch, but Sarah still does her best to visit the family out of politeness. Good ol’ Texas politeness, some would say.

Sarah is eventually shown shortly visiting the Adlers, where she interacts with Connie and borrows Danny’s copy of Curtis and Viper 2 DVD for Joel’s birthday. However, what Sarah doesn’t realize is that Nana died of symptoms of Cordyceps brain infection, which only Adlers’ dog Mercy seemed to have noticed.

Sarah and Joel watch the movie together, but Joel has pulled away from the movie night because of his brother Tommy. He tucks in his daughter and retrieves his brother Tommy from prison. Sarah wakes up and realizes that something doesn’t seem right in her neighborhood. She spots Adler’s dog, Mercy, escaping the premises while Sarah investigates what is happening.

She quickly realizes that Adlers are not okay, proven by seeing Danny Adler lying against the door with a human bite on his neck. He begs Sarah to help him, but before she can do that, she spots infected Nana eating Connie, her daughter. Sarah is mortified and escapes Adler’s residence, while Joel and Tommy show up at the last second to retrieve Sarah and escape the town.

Of course, in true Last of Us fashion, infected Nana runs out of the house and attacks the Millers, but not before Joel and Tommy kill the infected old woman.

Shortly after, infected Danny and Connie Adler run out of the house and chase the Millers away, but not before Tommy runs infected Connie over, catches Danny with his vehicle, and finally escapes the neighborhood.

Danny Adler is last seen attacking their neighbor Denise, who tries to help Connie, not realizing that Adlers are infected and have already turned into runners.

Danny Adler wasn’t a significant character but was used to show viewers how fungus can affect human beings and their brains. Adlers and their characters served as a prologue to the huge story we will experience in the following episodes.

Does Mr. Adler appear in the Last of Us game?

Unfortunately, Danny Adler or his family aren’t in the Last of Us game. They are original characters of the TV show to feel in gaps between the gameplay and cut scenes of the game.

Frankly, their characters truly impact the show’s first episode since they are the first infected characters we see. Sarah, Joel, and Tommy have their first encounter with infected individuals, and it’s shocking to their characters that the world is vastly changing, and they cannot do anything about it.

The chaos is starting, and people are getting infected so fast that even the best scientist cannot do anything. The apocalypse started, and unfortunately for our characters, it didn’t ever end.