In a move that shows HBO has learned a thing or two about the toxicity of fandom, the company has prepared for the backlash it may receive from the upcoming season of The Last of Us.
After the announcement that Kaitlyn Dever would play Abby—an infamously loathed character in the game’s sequel, The Last of Us Part II—in the second season of the hit series, HBO and Max proactively set up extra security for the actress to protect her from fans who might have trouble distinguishing fact from fiction.
Isabela Merced (Alien: Romulus), cast as Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) love interest Dina in season two, revealed to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, “There are so many strange people in this world because there are people who genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder: Not a real person. So, you know, Kaitlyn has to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this.”
When The Last of Us Part II released in June 2020, gamers criticized the new playable character, Abby, a soldier who seeks revenge against Joel for her father’s death and serves as an adversary to Ellie. Online misogynists began attacking the character’s physical appearance, as they couldn’t handle a woman with big muscles, some even speculating the character is trans (she is not). The Last of Us developers Naughty Dog and Abby voiceover actress Laura Bailey were harassed and received death threats over the game.
“What confuses me is the showrunner [Craig Mazin] and 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 said on the podcast. “I’m too opinionated to be on Twitter. I see this stuff on Twitter, and it makes me want to go Cardi B on them.”
While Dever has not commented on the series, Merced shared that her co-star doesn’t get fazed by these things, praising the actress’ performance as Emmy-worthy. “It’s devastating to see, but also give her the damn Emmy!,” Merced declared. “Honestly, I’m so excited for people to see how incredibly well Bella and Kaitlyn did on this. I’m so excited.”
The seven-episode second season of The Last of Us debuts on HBO in 2025.
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