HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2 brings in characters from the game’s sequel, including the controversial Abby.
When the game launched in 2020, Abby sparked a lot of debates, and it looks like it’ll happen again with her TV debut. Isabela Merced, who portrays Dina in the upcoming season, addressed the backlash by saying there are many odd people out there. She reminded everyone that Abby, portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever, is just a fictional character and can’t harm anyone.
“There are people who actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder. Not a real person,” Merced stated on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
She also mentioned that Kaitlyn Dever needed extra security during filming because of potential threats. Laura Bailey, who voiced Abby in the game, faced death threats and even had her newborn child threatened.
“So Kaitlyn had to be extra-secured by security when it came to the filming of this. Kaitlyn is such a cool person who just does not get phased by things and has her head in the right place,” Merced said.
During filming, Dever was also dealing with personal grief due to her mother’s passing from breast cancer earlier this year.
“Give her the damn Emmy. I’m so excited for people to see how incredibly well [Ellie actor Bella Ramsey] and Kaitlyn did on this. I’m so excited,” Merced exclaimed.
Fans sometimes take things too far.
Merced expressed confusion over why there’s backlash against the show itself. She pointed out that Craig Mazin, the showrunner, and Neil Druckmann, the game’s creator, collaborated on this project.
“The showrunner [Craig Mazin] and the creator of the video game [Neil Druckmann], they work together to make this. So if you like what the guy made, and he’s making more of it, why are you mad?” Merced wondered aloud. “I’m too opinionated to be on Twitter. I see this stuff and it makes me want to go Cardi B on them.”
The Last of Us Season 2 is set to air in 2025 with seven episodes, two fewer than Season 1. Although a third season seems likely, there’s no official word yet.
Naughty Dog has hinted at The Last of Us: Part III for quite some time now.
“I’ve been thinking–is there a concept there [for The Last of Us 3]? For now years, I haven’t been able to find that concept. But recently that’s changed,” Druckmann mentioned in an interview from February 2024. “I don’t have a story. But I do have that concept that is, to me, as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2,” he said. “As its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
