Kaitlyn Dever Cast As Abby On The Last Of Us Season 2

HBO announced Tuesday that Booksmart actress Kaitlyn Dever has been cast as Abby, who the network described as “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.”

The physically-imposing character comes straight out of the second video game and has some serious conflicts with Joel and Ellie, played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’s on the series.

“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 statement (via Variety). “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.”

Dever was reportedly in the running to play Ellie, but she and Maisie Williams had both “aged out of consideration” to play the role by the time the series went into production.

Mazin previously spoke about casting the Abby role and expecting some shocked responses from fans, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “We’ve got a pretty good track record of making major cast announcements and people going, ‘Really?’ which will probably continue. So people may disagree, but I think we got it right so far and the audience seems to feel we got it right and the Academy seems to feel we got it right.”

Season one of The Last of Us was a massive hit for HBO, landing Emmy nominations for both Pascal and Ramsey, as well as for Outstanding Drama Series, Directing and Writing and a number of technical categories.

The show also picked up acting wins at the Creative Arts Emmys over the weekend, with Nick Offerman and Storm Reid both taking home trophies for their guest roles.

While there are only two games, Mazin also said he said four seasons “seems like a good number.” It’s unclear how they’ll split the second game or possibly come up with new material for future seasons.