HBO has announced further casting details for the upcoming third and possibly final season of The Last of Us.
Two actors from the games are set to appear in Season 3–Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander–along with prolific veteran actor John Goodman, as relayed by Deadline.
Bailey played Abby in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Part II, with Alexander portraying Lev. For the TV show, however, Kyriana Kratter is set to play Lev, while Kaitlyn Dever plays Abby.
Bailey will play Elizabeth, one of the Seraphite leaders, while Alexander will portray Paco, alongside Goodman as Joey. Joey and Paco are described as “Heroes of the Highway,” but that’s all we know. Goodman has worked with HBO before, starring on the comedy series The Righteous Gemstones.
Bailey’s performance as Abby was memorable, and controversial. She received a lot of online hate, and people even sent death threats to her newborn baby.
Many actors from the games have been on the show
Bailey and Alexander are just the latest actors from the games to appear on the HBO show, following Merle Dandridge and Jeffrey Wright reprising their characters Marlene and Isaac, respectively.
Ashley Johnson, who played Ellie in the games, played Ellie’s mom in Season 1. Troy Baker, who played Joel in the games, played James on the show. Jeffrey Pierce, who played Tommy in The Last of Us, appeared on the show as a new character, Perry.
Season 3 could be its last
HBO programming boss Casey Bloys has said on multiple occasions that he believes Season 3 could be the last one for The Last of Us. However, he’s also acknowledged that the question might be better answered by showrunner Craig Mazin, who is plotting out the series and previously said he needed four seasons to wrap things up. Alternatively, Mazin is reportedly considering making Season 3 one long season as opposed to wrapping things up with Season 4.
A big creative shift
In a big shift for the series, franchise creator Naughty Dog is not involved creatively in Season 3, and Neil Druckmann dropped out as a writer/director. People have speculated about what this could mean, but Druckmann, for his part, said he left the show to focus on his work on Naughty Dog’s games.
He is currently directing Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, and if it’s true that Naughty Dog is also making The Last of Us 3, he’s probably involved in that, too.