Last Updated on July 2, 2025 by Amber T
Following the emotional rollercoaster that was The Last of Us Season Two, co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have confirmed that the third season of the HBO horror drama will be lead by Kaitlyn Dever in her role as Abby.
If you're not caught up with theThe Last of Us S2 then stop reading here. The second season of the series adaptation of Naughty Dog's video game of the same name saw stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey return respectively as Joel and Ellie, survivors of a fungal apocalypse that turns humans into mindless, shuffling monsters. As fans of the game knew, The Last Of Us season 2 was set to adapt a particularly controversial moment from The Last of Us Part II – notably, Joel's brutal death at the hands of vengeful WLF soldier Abby – and they didn't hold back on breaking our hearts with it.
In the game, Abby's backstory, and reason for her killing Joel, is fleshed out for a huge portion of the game, but only after the damage has been done, with the story split into two parts, Ellie's and Abby's. As such, fans have long speculated that Abby would be the focus of the third season. At an Emmys FYC event on Tuesday, recounted originally by The Hollywood Reporter, Mazin and Druckmann confirmed this theory:
“I think it was good to go on that journey to end up at HBO, end up at a place that leaned into those controversial decisions, I guess […] But the decisions are just what the story required, and even now, it’s like I can’t believe that they let us structure the series in this way. Meaning like we just ended season two, and season three is going to be starring — spoiler alert — Kaitlyn.
I was sure that they wouldn’t let us do this when we started adapting this, but they’ve leaned into what makes, I believe, the story special. And allowed us not only the time but the creative freedom to be able to take these swings, and I think the audience really appreciates that.”
Mazin went on to explain the reason for splitting the story differently after Joel's death:
“To invest all this time and then go away for a long time and then come back, it’s even more dangerous to do what we did, and that’s why I thought it should be done, because it doesn’t happen enough.
I think plot armor is a real problem and in a show where we try and keep things as grounded as possible, and we want people to feel in real danger, then yes, sometimes the people that we can’t imagine dying die […] Because, for me, this is not a show about revenge, it’s a show about grief. Well, how are we supposed to grieve if nobody we truly, truly are invested in dies?”
Look out for more on The Last of Us Season 3 as we get it.
