Warning: DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT read this article if you haven’t played The Last of Us Part I & II or want to avoid major spoilers.
HBO’s The Last of Us (2023) has been renewed for a second season, which means that viewers are about to meet a very important and controversial character from the games, Abby Anderson (Laura Bailey). Her personality, motivation, and character arc are hard to describe in any detail without going into major spoilers, so consider this your final warning. DO NOT read ahead if you haven't played The Last of Us Part II, as the second season will likely follow a similar storyline.
Abby is introduced in The Last of Us Part II by brutally murdering Joel (Troy Baker in the game, Pedro Pascal in the show) right in front of Ellie (Ashley Johnson in the game, Bella Ramsey in the show), setting off a revenge quest for the latter. About midway through the game, it’s revealed that Abby was likewise motivated by revenge for the death of a father.
Abby’s father was Jerry Anderson (Derek Philips), a surgeon for the Fireflies and seemingly the only man left who was capable of creating a vaccine for the new zombie strain of Cordyceps. However, harvesting Ellie’s immunity would have killed her in the process, so Joel ends up killing Jerry instead to rescue his “baby girl.”
The Actor Playing Abby
While Abby’s character was well-received by critics, with Bailey’s performance being praised, reception among players was much more negative. Criticism ranged from killing a beloved main character, an allegedly lackluster redemption arc, and Abby’s muscular physique, which was very atypical for a female character in video games and fiction in general.
Bailey ended up receiving death threats online despite only being the actor portraying the character. Some might say that whoever gets cast to play Abby in the HBO adaptation should be informed of that ahead of time. But, of course, that does beg the question of who will be Abby. Either for the second season or, at the earliest, the end of season one.
Well, some fans already have a theory, believing that Shannon Berry from The Wilds has, in fact, already been cast. According to CBR, the evidence supporting this theory is Berry’s close resemblance to the character and game writer/co-show creator Neil Druckmann following the actor on Instagram.
Of course, there hasn’t been any official confirmation from HBO or anyone else involved with the show about who’s been cast as Abby. So we likely won’t find out who it is for quite some time. Even when we do, based on the length of time the first season of The Last of Us spent in production, we likely won’t see their performance for a few years.