What will become of Joel in ? It’s a question that’s been on the mind of fans everywhere ever since that first reveal trailer back in 2016. Is Ellie’s brutal quest for revenge because the gruff Texan has kicked the bucket? Will he be a ghost that follows Ellie on her journey? Will he be alive for most of the game and get brutally murdered right in front of us?

We just don’t know, and that’s the way it should be until the game launches. Still, that hasn’t stopped Joel actor Troy Baker from sharing some alluring new details about the character’s role in the sequel. While we know we’ll be playing as Ellie for most (if not all) of , Baker insists that we’ll still learn plenty about Joel as a character throughout the new game.

“What we’ve done such a good job of doing [in ], is to continue to peel back layers and learn more about him,” Baker explained to Fandom. “even learned more about Joel and I’m the guy that walked into [the original audition] and said, ‘I know the truth about Joel!’ I knew his truth back then, but now, I know even more of Joel’s truth.”

While this certainly implies that Joel will remain alive and travel alongside Ellie for the majority of the game, you never can be entirely sure what to expect from Naughty Dog. Touching on the game’s overall story, Baker said he thinks it’ll completely change players’ views on “what the game is, what the world is, who the characters are -everything”.

In fact, Baker wants players to head into with an open mind, as it’s a potentially divisive story that we’ll get more out of if we don’t come to it with our own expectations. It’s unclear what exactly he means by this, but damn it all if I’m not terribly excited.

The actor went on to recall the first time the game’s director Neil Druckmann explained to him what he had planned for Joel and Ellie in . Baker says it took the director an hour to explain it all to him, but by the end of it he was utterly captivated.

“By the end of it, I was silent,” he said. “Like I was sat at the feet of the greatest storyteller. It was an amazing story. I don’t know whether people are going to like it or they’re going to hate it, but they definitely will NOT be ambivalent about it.”

was originally scheduled to release next month, but has since been delayed indefinitely due to current global events. Until such time as a new release date is agreed upon, why not check out our own interview with Troy Baker, where he touches on the importance of the Gaming BAFTAs, as well as his views on HBO’s TV show and taking over the role of Joker from Mark Hamill.