The Last of Us Season 3 Adds DC Favorite in Major Role (And Confirms One Actor Is Playing a Second Character)

As of this writing, we’re just over three years removed from the Season 1 finale of HBO’s The Last of Us. The Emmy Award-winning adaptation of the beloved PlayStation video game has proven to be a fan-favorite ever since it first premiered, and much like the title that inspired its second and upcoming third season, it once again courted some controversy. By maintaining its fidelity from the video game it was based on to TV screens around the world, fans grew outraged over major plot beats. The big difference in the show and the game, however, is that the wait for the next part of the story is years long, and not immediate, with The Last of Us Season 3 finally coming together.

The internet has been full of scuttlebutt in recent days about The Last of Us Season 3, and now actual news has been revealed to confirm those rumors. Deadline brings word that Patrick Wilson has been tapped to join the cast of the hit HBO series for the third season, where he will take on a major role, playing Abby’s father, Dr. Jerry Anderson. As fans of the series may recall, the death of Abby’s dad at the hands of Joel Miller was what spurred her violent act of revenge in the show’s second season. Wilson’s casting, however, wasn’t the only news for the show.

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Patrick Wilson Joins The Last of Us Season 3 as Abby’s Dad

As fans of The Last of Us video games will recall, Abby’s dad has quite a few appearances in the video game’s story as her backstory and further details of the Firefly operation in Salt Lake City are revealed. Jerry is seen in the game detailing the potential for developing a cure from Ellie’s immunity and additional moments with Abby that develop their relationship, showing what she lost after Joel’s selfish actions in the Season 1 finale. All of that is to say that Wilson may only appear in The Last of Us Season 3 for a couple of episodes, but it’s a role that he’s already well primed to play. Hopefully, we don’t have to see Pedro Pascal shoot him too many times.

Wilson’s casting in The Last of Us Season 3 isn’t the only news, either, as Ariela Barer (Mel), Tati Gabrielle (Nora), and Spencer Lord (Owen), have all been promoted to series regulars for the new batch of episodes. Though fans may recall that we already saw all three of these characters die in The Last of Us Season 2, it’s worth reiterating that the new episode will clearly be following the game and telling the events of Season 2 purely from Abby’s perspective, meaning these three will have more to do and a lot of their own development to be revealed, which will add further nuance to what was seen in previous episodes.

Finally, The Last of Us Season 3 has added actor Jason Ritter to the cast for the new episodes, where he will take on the role of a WLF soldier named Hanley. There’s no direct character by that name from The Last of Us Part II video game, so it’s almost certain that he’s a new creation for the show, though the possibility also exists that it’s a new name being given to a character that didn’t have one in the game itself. As super fans of The Last of Us will recall, this actually marks Ritter’s second character in the TV series, as he previously played one of the bloaters (albeit uncredited) in Season 1 of the series (fittingly, Ritter’s previous appearance came in the same episode that starred his wife, Melanie Lynskey.

Production on The Last of Us Season 3 appears to be gearing up to start, meaning the series is likely at least a year out from premiere. It remains to be seen when cameras will roll, but there are still some key characters that have yet to be confirmed for the episodes. Questions also linger about how this new season will be handled, given the departure of co-creator Neil Druckmann from the production team.