Set five years after the end of the first seasonโs events, The Last of Us season two picks up in the US state of Wyoming, where Joel and Ellie โ played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, respectively โ are settled into everyday life alongside an ensemble of returning characters and new faces protecting their fortress from the infected humans.
Ellie is at the centre of season two, now streaming on HBO and Max, as she sets out on a quest for vengeance โ to tell you more would be a spoiler.
But season twoโs new cast members also include some of young Hollywoodโs rising stars: Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus), Young Mazino (Beef), Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick) and Kaitlyn Dever (Apple Cider Vinegar), the last of whom plays the long-awaited Abby, a character introduced in The Last of Us: Part II video game who is set on avenging her fatherโs death.
Dever, who played the game with her own father, was originally in talks with series co-creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin to portray Ellie in the first season. But Abby, she now says, was the role she was meant to play.
โIt sort of just felt like everything fell into place the way it was supposed to,โ Dever says.