HBO Can't Afford To Mess This Last Of Us Season 3 Casting Up

The Last of Us season 3 will fall apart if it doesn’t nail the casting of one very important character. At the end of The Last of Us season 2, Abby confronted Ellie in the theater, held her at gunpoint, and then we suddenly flashed back to the beginning of this three-day ordeal in Seattle — this time from Abby’s perspective.

It’s more or less the same narrative structure as the video game. In the game, the player spends three days as Ellie ruthlessly chasing Abby across the city. Then, we go back and spend the same three days as Abby, seeing her side of the story and eventually growing to empathize with her just as much as Ellie.

Considering that television has cross-cutting abilities that aren’t afforded to video games, it was a bold choice for showrunner Craig Mazin to replicate this structure in the TV show. It would’ve been easy enough for the series to show Ellie and Abby’s days in Seattle simultaneously, but Mazin has committed to giving Abby her own season.

The Last of Us’ Abby-centric third season will be a make-or-break moment for some audiences. A lot of players quit the game once they realized they had to spend half of it in Abby’s shoes, and TV viewers might do the same if season 3 doesn’t give them a reason to stick around. In the game, that hook is Lev.

The Last Of Us Season 3 Has To Nail The Casting Of Lev

When we catch up with Abby in the game, Owen has gone A.W.O.L. and she’s determined to find him and make sure he’s okay. She’s pretty sure he’ll be at the aquarium — his favorite spot in the city — so she abandons her post and heads over there. But along the way, she’s captured by a Seraphite patrol and strung up to be executed.

Just as the Seraphites are about to gut her like a fish, Abby is saved. As the patrol brings in a Seraphite runaway named Yara, Yara’s younger brother and fellow runaway Lev uses his unparalleled archery skills to save her. During the ensuing chaos, they cut Abby down and reluctantly join forces with her to escape the stalker-infested woods.

This is the inciting incident of Abby’s story. She becomes so endeared to these kids — especially Lev — that she abandons her allegiance to the W.L.F. and dedicates herself to keeping them safe. Lev is the heart and soul of Abby’s story, so 

Lev's Actor Needs To Share The Right Chemistry With Kaitlyn Dever

It’s important for Lev’s actor to share the right chemistry with Kaitlyn Dever. The chemistry between Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander really sold the tight-knit ride-or-die bond that formed between Abby and Lev in the video game, and the TV show needs to replicate that. Abby is like a big sister to Lev, and the casting needs to reflect that.

The TV show’s casting team did a great job casting Joel and Ellie. Whether you think Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are individually suited to the roles or not, you can’t deny that they share the authentic father-daughter chemistry that Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson brought to the characters in the source material.

Abby's Relationship With Lev Mirrors Joel's Relationship With Ellie

Ultimately, what makes Abby so endearing is that she reminds you of Joel. This is reflected in the gameplay: playing as Ellie is very different from playing as Joel — what she lacks in strength, she makes up for with her cunning and pluckiness — but playing as Abby, a well-oiled killing machine built like a tank, is almost identical to playing as Joel.

But these parallels go beyond the gameplay. Abby’s relationship with Lev mirrors Joel’s relationship with Ellie. Both Joel and Abby have a long history of doing really bad things, and they achieve redemption and find the light in the darkness when they take a young ward under their wing. Protecting Lev endears us to Abby the same way protecting Ellie endeared us to Joel.

Lev Is The Key To Making The Last Of Us Season 3 Work

Pivoting to Abby’s perspective is one of the riskiest narrative choices in gaming history. There are plenty of videos of streamers quitting the game and instantly deleting the file, or even going at the disc with a pair of scissors, as soon as they had to play as Abby. TV viewers are a bit more emotionally stable than gamers, but it’ll still be an uphill battle.

It’ll be tough to get audiences to stick around for a whole season with the “villain,” especially since the TV show made Joel’s murder even more gruesome. But if the show can get them endeared to Lev, then they’ll surely give it a chance. He’s such a lovable character that he’s bound to win over most viewers.

Abby’s pseudo-sibling dynamic with Lev is the part of The Last of Us season 3 that I’m most excited about. But it all hinges on the casting.

The 21 richest stars of The Walking Dead, ranked

Hooking legions of viewers from its 2010 premiere until the 2022 finale, The Walking Dead is a landmark of post-apocalyptic TV. Following a large ensemble of survivors battling undead 'walkers', brutal warlords, and the collapse of civilisation, the series delivered relentless gore, intense drama and some of the small screen's most gripping moments. A critical darling and ratings powerhouse that spawned numerous spin-offs, it also launched and elevated the careers of many cast members.

Read on to discover which stars of the show escaped the end of days with the heaviest wallets. All dollar amounts in US dollars.

Austin Nichols played Spencer Monroe, the privileged and increasingly resentful Alexandrian whose entitled streak repeatedly clashed with Rick Grimes' leadership. This simmering ambition ultimately led to his grisly death at Negan Smith's hands.

Before stepping into the apocalypse, Nichols was already known for his TV roles in One Tree Hill and HBO's John from Cincinnati, along with film appearances in The Day After Tomorrow

 and Wimbledon. His more recent credits include The Six Triple Eight and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Joining The Walking Dead in season nine, Dan Fogler portrayed Luke Abrams, the warm-hearted former music teacher who played a pivotal role in Alexandria's pushback against the Whisperers.

Off-screen, Fogler has built one of the most eclectic résumés in the cast. He's a Tony Award winner, a key player in the Fantastic Beasts film franchise and the voice of Zeng in 

Kung Fu Panda. He has also branched out into writing, directing, and comedy, and more recently earned praise for his turns as Francis Ford Coppola in The Offer and Albert Grossman in the Bob Dylan biopic

 A Complete Unknown.

As Eugene Porter, Josh McDermitt made his debut in The Walking Dead in season four, becoming a main cast member from the fifth season through to the finale. Initially a timid liar claiming scientific expertise, Eugene grew into Alexandria's chief engineer, though he briefly defected to the Saviors.

Pre-apocalypse, McDermitt was mainly known for comedy projects such as Last Comic Standing and the sitcom Retired at 35. Post-The Walking Dead, he has taken on more dramatic roles in the likes of supernatural Western thriller 

Killing Faith and short-lived spin-off series Suits LA.

From season seven onwards, Khary Payton took on the role of 'King' Ezekiel Sutton, the charismatic, theatre-loving leader of the Kingdom whose steady optimism helped unite Alexandria's allied communities.

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