Showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have been chatting about The Last Of Us season 2, especially Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby. More on that below.
The Last Of Us season 2 is fast approaching, with only a couple more months before we return to Jackson, Wyoming and to the lives of Ellie and Joel, played by Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal.
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the showrunners behind the TV adaptation of Druckmann’s award-winning videogame franchise, recently talked to Entertainment Weekly in two interviews ā here and here ā about the new season, especially Kaitlyn Dever’s casting as Abby.
“We wouldāve struggled to find someone as good as Kaitlyn to play this role,” Druckmann said. In The Last Of Us Part II, Abby is the main antagonist and is portrayed by Laura Bailey through motion capture. Abby is basically the exact opposite of Ellie; whereas Ellie is small and agile, Abby is muscular and overpowering.
Dever’s casting has therefore been met with some pushback from fans since Dever hardly resembles the game’s version of Abby. Mazin and Druckmann know what they’re doing, though, explaining their reasoning behind the casting.
“In the game, you have to play both characters [Ellie and Abby] and we need them to play differently,ā Druckmann explained. āWe needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of maneuver around, and Abby was meant to play more like Joel in that sheās almost like a brute in the way she can physically manhandle certain things. That doesnāt play as big of a role in this version of the story because thereās not as much violent action moment to moment. Itās more about the drama. Iām not saying thereās no action here. Itās just, again, different priorities and how you approach it.”
Mazin agreed and expanded on how their Abby is different from the game’s.
“I personally think that there is an amazing opportunity here to delve into someone who is perhaps physically more vulnerable than the Abby in the game, but whose spirit is stronger,” Mazin added. “And then the question is, ‘Where does her formidable nature come from and how does it manifest?’ Thatās something that will be explored now and later.”
The pair also teased another piece of casting for The Last Of Us season 2 we’re not familiar with. We already know Jeffrey Wright is reprising his role from the game and Catherine O’Hara will play a character that’s completely new, but there’s someone else Mazin and Druckmann are excited to introduce.
āThere is a pretty prominent character that is talked a lot about in the game, similar to what we did with Frank [Murray Bartlett] in season 1, that is in this season,ā Druckmann revealed to EW. āThereās a very, very cool casting that I hope we can talk about soon.ā
The Last Of Us season 2 doesn’t have a set release date, but is expected in April. We’ll let you know when one is announced.