The Last of Us Season 2 Teaser Shows Kaitlyn Dever as Abby for the First Time

HBO has released the first teaser for the second season of The Last of Us.

The teaser is short, but it does give us a look at some new and returning faces in season 2. New faces include Kaitlyn Dever as Abby and the yet-to-be-named character of Catherine O'Hara (though previous rumors suggested her character was named Gail).

You can check out the teaser below, towards the end of HBO's latest sizzle reel. It starts around the 1:15 mark. After the trailer, I'll break down a few bits I noticed, so Please be aware of spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 (the video game) below.

The first clip we see is a pan down to a party scene, lit up by fairy lights. We see the back of a girl's head, as she looks down at the dance floor.

This is Ellie played by Bella Ramsey and the scene shown here is basically a carbon copy of the same moment in the game.

As the above footage plays, we hear a woman's voice asking, “Did you hurt her?”, to which Joel (Pedro Pascal) replies, “No.” The trailer then focuses on Ellie's scarred arm and her tattoo.

It is revealed in the game that between the events of The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2, Ellie covers up her bite mark (which she received at the mall with her friend Riley during the series' Left Behind DLC) first with a chemical burn, and later by having her ex-girlfriend Cat tattoo the area.

The moment shared in the HBO teasers appears to be Ellie getting her tattoo, which suggests we may meet Cat sometime in the series’ second season (or, this is just a brief flashback scene and Cat’s hands may be all we get to see).

After seeing Ellie's arm, we see the woman who was talking to Joel, and it's Catherine O'Hara's character. I was previously wondering if O'Hara would be playing a WLF member or a Seraphite, but she appears to be a Jackson resident, given her seemingly close relationship with Joel.

O'Hara has previously stated that she has filmed scenes with both Joel and Ellie, so now I wonder if she will try to mediate between the two during the scenes with Jackson (those who have played the game will know that there is friction between Joel and Ellie after the events of Part 1).

My other theory is that she’s some sort of resident therapist that Jackson’s community confides in. Her role on the series has previously been rumored to be a brand new character, so that would be fitting. Season 1 also dealt with Joel’s trauma and mental health, so this could be the next evolution in his journey.

At the moment, I'm not exactly sure what's going on in this next scene. Ellie is seen screaming as someone slightly off-screen tries to hold her down on some sort of bed.

First, I wondered if this was a traumatic dream of Ellie's, in which she imagines herself inside the Firefly hospital, unable to stop Joel from his murderous rampage.

Then I wondered if it was someone else pouring the chemicals on her bite scar, and Ellie screaming in pain. That would suggest that Ellie and Joel had confided in several other members of the Jackson community, so I'm not sure how likely that is. Thoughts are welcome!

We're back outside for the next short clip, which shows a snowy landscape with a large walled structure – Jackson – being stormed by a large horde of running attackers. While we can't see their faces, it's safe to assume that this is a horde of infected runners.

The next clip shows Gabriel Luna's Tommy using his gun to shoot into the snow, I assume at these runners, to defend Jackson. In the game, Jackson's residents regularly patrol the surrounding areas to defend the settlement from the infected.

The next clips are once again brief, but they give us our first official look at season 2’s Seraphites, Isabela Merced as Dina and Jeffrey Wright, who reprises his role as Isaac.

Previous images have leaked of Merced on set with Ramsey, while filming in Canada. An image of Wright also surfaced online, and it seemed to suggest that we'll learn more about Isaac's backstory when season two airs.

Finally, we now have our first quick look at Dever's Abby. This image is again almost a carbon copy of the same moment in the game. We see Abby wearing a dark cap as she runs away from a swarm of infected.

She is about to be overwhelmed by the swarm and a metal fence is pressed down on her as she tries to crawl through the snow to safety.

The latest teaser images show a horse ride in the snow (an experience we also find in the game).

We also see Ellie and Dina in a subway, running away from a clicker. I suggest this represents the “Tunnel” section of The Last of Us Part 2, where the two make their way through the train cars while fighting off enemies.

The final shot of the teaser shows Joel, a tear rolling down his cheek, telling O'Hara that he saved Ellie. At the beginning of The Last of Us Part 2, Joel confides in his brother Tommy. He may very well do so again in the series, but I wonder if this tête-à-tête between Joel and O'Hara's character will be the one that opens the season.

Then the teaser ends.

So what do you think so far? I would have liked to see more of Abby and the WLF, but this was just a teaser, so I'm sure we'll see more in the coming months.

The Last of Us season 2 is expected to air in 2025. It won't cover the entire second game, but it will have “many more infected” than the first season.