John Goodman is set to star in the third season of HBO's series The Last of Us, alongside two stars of the video game on which it is based: Laura Bailey and Ian Alexander. The game The Last of Us: Part II features Bailey and Alexander as Abby and Lev, respectively, but they will have different roles in the upcoming season of the television series. With Kyriana Kratter playing Lev and Kaitlyn Dever portraying Abby, The Last of Us season 3 is set to star Bailey as Elizabeth. Notably, Elizabeth is among those who lead a religious group called the Seraphites. On the other hand, the upcoming season will feature Goodman and Alexander as Joey and Paco, who describe themselves as "Heroes of the Highway".
This is not the first time HBO has cast The Last of Us game artists for its live-action adaptation. Earlier, they cast Jeffrey Wright and Merle Dandridge as Washington Liberation Front leader Isaac Dixon and Marlene, the chief of a resistance movement called Fireflies, respectively. Further, Elle voice actor Ashley Johnson from the game played Elle's (Bella Ramsey) mother in the first season of the series.
Created by Craig Mazin alongside The Last of Us game's own Neil Druckmann, the series is set two decades after the destruction of modern civilisation. It starts with a survivor named Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), who gets enlisted to smuggle a teenager named Ellie from an quarantine area with oppression. What begins as a simple job on paper soon takes a brutal and heartrending turn, with Miller and Ellie having to travel through the USA while counting on each other to survive.
The second season is set five years following the events in the inaugural season, and Joel Miller dies in it. Miller's return in The Last of Us season 3 remains uncertain as yet. And while HBO is yet to reveal the specifics of the upcoming season, it could focus on Abby's character arc, where the Seraphites plays a big role.
The third season will also star Li Jun Li and Peter Sarsgaard as Seraphites members, Patrick Wilson as Abby's father, and Jason Ritter as a WLF soldier, besides Michelle Mao, Jorge Lendeborg, and Clea DuVall. Notably, Lendeborg replaces Danny Ramirez as Manny in the series.
