Kaitlyn Dever is getting ready to return to the world of The Last of Us. The actress told Deadline on Monday that she is preparing to film the third season of the HBO hit series, hinting at a bigger and more central role for her character, Abby.
“I’m getting mentally and physically prepped right now. I go up in a couple days, actually, to start prep over there. I’m so excited to kind of take on a much bigger role in the season,” Dever said.
Season 2 ended on a tense cliffhanger, with Abby confronting Ellie (Bella Ramsey) at her theater base in Seattle. Abby kills Jesse (Young Mazino) and holds Tommy (Gabriel Luna) at gunpoint, forcing Ellie out of hiding. The screen cuts to black before viewers can see what happens next. The final scenes show Abby at the WLF’s stadium base, marked “Seattle Day 1,” indicating that these events occurred three days earlier — the same days Ellie first arrives in the city — suggesting that Season 3 will revisit these events from Abby’s perspective, much like the video game.
Dever offered more insight to Deadline: “The fans are really going to like it, I think, the shifting perspective onto Abby, getting some more context onto her storyline and going back in time with this season. So, I’m very excited for the fans to see it.”
The upcoming season comes amid a creative shakeup behind the scenes. Neil Druckmann, co-creator and director of the original Naughty Dog video games, has stepped back from day-to-day involvement. While he will remain credited as co-creator and executive producer, he will not be writing or directing any episodes this season.
Executive producer and writer Halley Gross, who co-wrote The Last of Us Part II, has also exited her regular duties on the series, marking a notable shift in the team steering the adaptation.
As production ramps up, fans can expect a season that not only revisits pivotal moments from previous episodes but also deepens the story from Abby’s perspective, promising new layers of tension, emotion, and character development.
