The Last of Us Season 2 has just cast one of the most important characters for this new year! So, who does Kaitlyn Dever play for this new season?
Spoiler alert! This article contains SPOILERS for The Last of Us season 1, as well as the video game "The Last of Us II."
Based on the award-winning smash hit 2013 video game, The Last of Us premiered on HBO in 2023. It's set twenty years after a deadly plague washed over the world, with the lucky ones dying right away. The unlucky ones were mutated by the virus into mindless, savage beasts called "Clickers," while others turned into absolute monsters.
Having lost his daughter in the initial outbreak, Joel (Pedro Pascal) is a bitter man surviving this hardened world. He's given the job of transporting young Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to the Fireflies, a resistance group against the totalitarian government that's taken over.
The reason Ellie is so important is that, somehow, she is immune to the virus and could hold the key to a cure. Joel and Ellie go on various adventures where the humans can be worse than the Clickers.
Season 1 ended with Joel delivering Ellie to the Fireflies for a cure. But when he discovered that the procedure would kill Ellie, Joel wiped out the doctors and took her away. He lied to Ellie that it wouldn't have worked, hiding how he was sacrificing the world to keep her safe.
Season 2 is expected to adapt the equally successful The Last of Us Part II video game and will have the key character of Abby coming in.
Who is Abby in The Last of Us?
The sequel game takes place a few years later, with Joel and Ellie estranged. The pair each meet up with Abby, who appears to be a lone survivor. However, she's actually a cold woman on a quest for revenge who commits a shocking act that changes the entire storyline.
Notably, just as fans were hating her, the game switched to Abby being a playable character. This allowed the gamer to see her backstory and slowly sympathize with her situation and understand her actions. Thus, rather than hero or villain, Abby was something in between and swiftly one of the games' more popular characters.
It was expected that Abby would be a key part of The Last of Us Season 2, and now they've landed a great actress for her.
Who plays Abby in The Last of Us Season 2?
Kaitlyn Dever will be playing Abby, as HBO confirmed. The actress broke out in roles on Justified and Last Man Standing before the acclaimed film Booksmart. She earned wide acclaim as well as Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her turns in Unbelievable and Dopesick.
This is a fun turn, as Dever was a huge choice by game fans for the role of Ellie and even auditioned for it before it went to Ramsey. So having her cast as Abby is just genius.
"Our casting process for season two has been identical to season one: we look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material," said Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us 'co-creators, writers, executive producers and directors. "Nothing matters more than talent, and we're thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro, Bella and the rest of our family."
Season 2's production was delayed by the WGA and SAG strikes but is expected to start filming soon, with a release in 2025. With Dever on board, The Last of Us Season 2 looks to be even better than the first for another dramatic season.
The Last of Us season 1 streaming on Max.