Troy Baker is a legend in the gaming industry. He's the record holder for the most BAFTA Games Awards nominations with five. In particular, Baker's most iconic voice-acting role is the one he did for Naughty Dog. His voice work as Joel Miller in The Last of Us franchise set a new standard, and fans wouldn't mind seeing him back as everyone's favorite grumpy, post-apocalyptic dad again. Unfortunately, the events of The Last of Us Part II made that impossible.

But, if you ask Baker, he's open to reprising his iconic role if Naughty Dog is up for it.

In an interview with GamingBible following his debut in HBO's The Last of Us, Baker talked about a project he'd "love to" explore.

Specifically, when asked about whether he's thought about the early days of Joel following the outbreak, which is a relative "blank" period of 20 years between the death of Joel's daughter, Sarah, and his fateful meeting with his adopted daughter, Ellie.

Here's what Baker said about exploring the said years in a potential "Joel" DLC:

I would love to explore more but what I have learned though, is that for the most part, Neil has far better ideas than I do so any idea, any story that I could come up with is instantly going to be trumped by him and Craig, as now the leaders of this thing, but if they ever asked me to suit up again, or any way to be a part of this franchise, you can count on me being there day one.

TLDR; the ball is in Neil Druckmann's court.

Unfortunately, fans shouldn't expect to see a new DLC for The Last of Us Part I anytime soon. The latest remake for the PS5, while well-reviewed, didn't sell particularly well at launch. Even though the success of the live-action TV adaptation gave it a second lease on life, it just wasn't as good of a seller as previous re-release attempts of the first game.

If Naughty Dog wanted to use it as a barometer for a potential post-launch DLC, it's safe to say the market has spoken.

However, with HBO's The Last of Us ending with the next episode, the market might be looking for something to tide them over until the release of The Last of Us Part II adaptation, which might be told across multiple seasons.

In that case, fan demand for more The Last of Us content and the imminent release of The Last of Us Part II on the PC sometime in the near future (after The Last of Us Part I) could create the perfect storm where people would love to play as a much younger and more savage Joel alongside his brother, Tommy.

Naughty Dog is currently working on a multiplayer spin-off to The Last of Us, which could be formally revealed before this year ends. Finally, according to the rumors, The Last of Us Part III is already in development for the PlayStation 6.