The Last of Us is returning for a second season in 2025 and we’re finally starting to learn who will be joining the cast, playing some of our favorite characters from the second game in Naughty Dog’s PlayStation series. It all kicked off with the big reveal that Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever would be taking on the role of Abby, followed soon after that by the casting announcements of Jesse and Dina.
There will be plenty more reveals as we get closer to the much-anticipated debut of Season 2, and we’ll be updating this article as we learn more! For now, however, come check out who the new cast members are, who is returning, who may return, and who, sadly, appears not to be coming back.
The Last of Us TV Show Season 2 New Cast
Kaitlyn Dever as Abby
The biggest question everyone had going into Season 2 of The Last of Us was who was going to play Abby? Thankfully, HBO finally gave us the answer when it revealed Booksmart and Justified’s Kaitlyn Dever will be playing her.
Abby is one of the playable characters in The Last of Us Part 2 and has a huge role to play in the upcoming story. While we won’t spoil too much here, Abby is a member of the Fireflies who crosses paths with Joel and Ellie early in the second game. HBO has described Abby as a “skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.”
“Our casting process for season two has been identical to season one: we look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material," series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said in a joint statement. "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."
Who Voiced Abby in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Laura Bailey
Young Mazino as Jesse
Beef star Young Mazino will be joining Season 2 of The Last of Us as Jesse, a “pillar of the community who puts everyone else’s needs before his own, sometimes at terrible cost.”
Jesse was first introduced in The Last of Us Part 2 and is a leader of the patrol groups in Jackson, Wyoming, a community Joel, Ellie, and Tommy call home at the beginning of the second game. He is a friend of Ellie and is also an ex-boyfriend of Dina.
“Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him," Mazin and Druckmann said. "We’re so lucky to have him, and we can’t wait for the audience to see Young shine in our show.”
Who Voiced Jesse in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Stephen Chang
Isabella Merced as Dina
Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Transformers: The Last Knight’s Isabella Merced is playing Dina in The Last of Us’ second season. For those unfamiliar, Dina is another member of the community of Jackson and is Ellie’s partner who plays a pivotal role in the story. Her relationship with Ellie evolves and grows in many ways throughout the game and she is one of the strongest voices in her life. Does she always listen to that voice? You’ll have to wait to find out.
“Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable," said Mazin and Druckmann. "You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away.”
Who Voiced Dina in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Shannon Woodward
The Last of Us TV Show Season 2 Confirmed Returning Cast
Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Season 1!
Pedro Pascal as Joel
Pedro Pascal will once again be returning as Joel in the second season of The Last of Us. When we last left Joel, he had just gone on a murderous rampage against the Fireflies to save Ellie. Marlene explained to Joel that while the procedure to see if Ellie’s body could actually lead to a cure would kill her, it would be for the greater good. Joel clearly didn’t agree this was the right option and rescued Ellie, takingher away from there.
The final scene saw him lying to Ellie and telling her the Fireflies had already failed to develop a cure for the cordyceps infection and that they didn’t need her anymore. He also chose not to reveal the bloodshed he left behind. When he swore to Ellie that what he said was true, Ellie just gave him an uneasy, “Okay.”
Who Voiced Joel in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Troy Baker
Bella Ramsey as Ellie
Bella Ramsey will be returning as Ellie in The Last of Us’ second season and will once again star alongside Pedro Pascal’s Joel. As with Joel, the last time we saw Ellie was when she was lied to by Joel about what happened with the Fireflies at that fateful hospital. Ellie was under anesthesia as she was getting ready for a procedure that would kill her but hopefully find a cure for the cordyceps infection. She didn’t know she was going to die.
Joel wasn’t OK with that and rescued her while killing many along the way, yet Ellie was unconscious the whole time so didn’t have a choice in the matter. We don’t know exactly what Ellie thinks after Joel lies to her at the end of the season, but Season 2 will no doubt dive deep into that and what it means for their relationship.
Who Voiced Bella in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Ashley Johnson
The Last of Us TV Show Season 2 Possible Returning Cast
Gabriel Luna as Tommy
Tommy is Joel’s brother and Gabriel Luna will most likely be making a return in Season 2 as the character played a big part in The Last of Us Part 2. We last saw him in Jackson with his wife, Maria. Joel had initially asked Tommy to take Ellie to the Fireflies after he admitted he wasn’t strong enough to do it and couldn’t after the loss of his daughter, Sarah. However, he changed his mind after speaking with Ellie and the two left Tommy behind in Jackson, but not before Tommy said they always had a home there.
Rutina Wesley as Maria
Rutina Wesley’s Maria is a leader of the Jackson community and Tommy’s wife. We last saw her in Jackson when she was cutting Ellie’s hair and telling her to be careful who to trust. She will most likely be returning for Season 2.
Merle Dandridge as Marlene
Merle Dandridge’s Marlene was killed by Joel in the final episode of The Last of Us’ first season, so we won’t be seeing her in the present time of Season 2. However, she did appear in flashbacks during The Last of Us Part 2 and very well may show up again this next season in that fashion.
Anna Torv as Tess
Anna Torv’s Tess was a smuggler and close friend of Joel in Boston who was with him when Marlene gave them the mission to get Ellie out of the city and to the Fireflies. Unfortunately, Tess sacrificed herself to save Joel and Ellie after she was bitten, and she was controversially killed by a Clicker who “kissed” her with disgusting mouth tendrils.
While Tess didn’t appear in The Last of Us Part 2, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could get another flashback to Joel and Tess’ life before she died in the show to flesh out their story.
Will Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank Return in The Last of Us?
It doesn’t sound like it…
The Last of Us’ episode which focused on the story of Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank was one of our favorite of the show’s first season. In fact, we loved it so much that we gave it a rare 10/10.
“Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett take on leading role duties with elegance, leaving an unmistakably beautiful mark on the show as we’re shown a side of humanity that makes what Joel and Ellie are fighting for worth saving,” IGN’s Simon Cardy wrote. “It’s an episode, just like love, that lives long in the memory after experiencing it.”
While their love story has sadly ended, there was hope we could see them again in another flashback. Offerman even said there were ideas for a potential spin-off prequel series focused on the characters.
However, Mazin has shut down that idea and said Offerman was just joking about the prequel. “I’m very proud of the episode we did with Bill and Frank,” Mazin said. "There won’t be more Bill and Frank. Nick was joking about a prequel, that was kind of a joke. We are very happy with what we achieved."
For more, check out our review of The Last of Us Season 1 and seven cool details from The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s Lost Levels.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
