The first season of the post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us premiered in 2023 and quickly became HBO's most-watched debut season. The series is based on the video game franchise from Naughty Dog and has been renewed for second and third seasons.
The Last of Us series was created by Neil Druckmann, co-creator of the game, and Craig Mazin who is well known for the historical disaster drama Chernobyl. The story takes place 20 years after a global pandemic of a fungal infection has caused the collapse of society.
The first season was based on the 2013 game and followed Joel and Ellie on a mission to deliver the girl, who was thought to be immune, to a research facility on the other side of the United States, which has been ravaged by the pandemic. The second draws inspiration from the second game, The Last of Us II (2020). The seven-part season 2 of The Last of Us will premiere on HBO beginning April 13, with the season finale airing on May 25.
Season 2 will be set 5 years after the events of the first and find Joel and Ellie in conflict with one another. According to Mazin, “A lot of what’s going on in the season is evolution and change. Ellie is growing up, and she is changing. This town of Jackson is growing up. It is expanding. It’s taking in refugees. And the world outside is changing.”
Official description of The Last of Us season 2: “Five years after the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie are drawn into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind.”
The Last of Us season 2 cast
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will return as Joel and Ellie and will be joined by Kaitlyn Dever who will portray Abby, a character fans are excited to see. Gabriel Luna will return in season as Joel's brother Tommy. Walking Dead's Rutina Wesley will return as Tommy's wife Maria.
In addition to Dever, other new cast members include Isabela Merced as free-spirited Dina who has a close connection with Ellie. Jeffrey Write joins a militia group leader Issac, Young Mazino as Jesse a patrol leader in the survivor community of Jackson, and Ariela Barer as Mel, a doctor struggling with the new world she finds herself in. Tati Gabrielle will plays a military medic, Mel.
Members of Abby's group include Spencer Lord as Owen and Tales of the Walking Dead's Danny Ramirez as Manny. Guest starring this season is Schitt's Creek's Catherine O'Hara, who plays Joel's therapist in Jackson.
Don't miss the exciting second installment of The Last of Us on HBO and Max beginning April 13.
Walking Dead universe cast in The Last of Us season 2
Rutina Wesley appeared in season 9 of The Walking Dead as Jocelyn, an old friend of Michonne's (Danai Gurira). It would be discovered that she had established a cult made up of orphaned children whom she manipulated into doing her bidding. When she abducts Michonne's daughter Judith (Cailey Fleming) and other children from Alexandria, she is hunted down by Michonne and Daryl (Norman Reedus). Joselyn is killed in a skrimish with Michonne.
Wesley is known for her roles in True Blood, Queen Sugar, 13 Sins, Arrow, and more.
Danny Ramirez appeared in the final episode of the spinoff Tales of the Walking Dead. The actor starred alongside Daniella Pineda in "La Doña," a supernatural story set in the same world as the main series. This haunting episode features Ramirez and Pineda as Eric and Idalia, a couple who seeking shelter, find themselves in house that begins to cause unexplained happenings that affect the couple's minds and relationship.
Ramirez is best known for his role as Lt. Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia in Top Gun: Maverick and as Joaquín Torres/Falcon in Marvel's Captain America: Winter Soldier and Captain America: Brave New World.
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