WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE LAST OF US II VIDEO GAME FROM 2020!!!
DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS OF POSSIBLE EVENTS FOR THE LAST OF US SEASON 2.
The Last of Us Season 2 will pick up where the first season left off, and according to Variety, series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have already found their main antagonist in Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick), who will play Abby Anderson.
Abby is described in the show as “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.” And the creators have said about Dever “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.”
Abby is an unlikely enemy in The Last of Us Part II video game and is [SPOILER WARNING AGAIN] infamously known for killing Joel. Players of the game learned that she was the daughter of one of the doctors that Joel killed when he rescued Ellie from a surgery that would extract the source of her immunity to the Cordyceps infection, killing her in the process. While the show differs from the video game, the hospital rescue part was followed pretty faithfully in the final episode of season one of The Last of Us, leading many to believe the TV adaptation will follow the same storyline faithfully.
Part of what made The Last of Us Part II as divisive as it was compelling was that, following the death of Joel, players were forced to split the time between playing as Abby and Ellie on the latter’s hunt to kill Joel’s murderer. Though controversial, this choice allowed players to understand the complexity of grief, survival, and revenge and see Abby more as a person than an enemy. And it’ll be exciting to see how The Last of Us Season 2 will explore these same ideas after Joel’s likely demise and how the show will live on past Pedro Pascal.
Abby may be one of the most complex characters in video games, as she’s neither a hero nor a villain. Considering Joel embraced many of those same tropes in the first season, it’ll be interesting to see if audiences will connect with Abby in the same way. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that Dever will bring her skills to add an even deeper layer to such a nuanced character.