HBO's The Last of Us Viewers React to 'Awful' Recast, Bad News For Season 3

The Last of Us TV fans have called Season 3’s recast “awful”, and it could be a sign of bad news for the third season.

Earlier this week, we reported on the news that The Last of Us Season 3 would not feature actor Danny Ramirez, who played Manny in the second season.

Ramirez played Manny, a member of Abby’s group from Seattle, in four episodes of the six-episode season.

But despite being set for a larger role in the show’s third season, which is set during the same window of time as Season 2 but shows Abby’s side of the story, Ramirez will not be reprising his role as Manny, with his role being recast with a new actor.

The Top Gun: Maverick actor has reportedly dropped out of the series due to scheduling conflicts, possibly due his role as Joaquin Torres (“Falcon”) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The actor is set to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, and may be starring in further Marvel projects beyond that.

Liane Hentscher/HBO

The Last Of Us Actor Danny Ramirez Is Too Busy Starring In Marvel Films

Of course, this has led to some disappointment by fans, who were excited to see more of Ramirez in the third season.

“This is an awful project for recasting as both seasons take place at the same time,” one fan writes on The Last of Us’ Reddit page. “They shoulda had foresight for this by not casting someone who’s already sold his soul to a Marvel contract.”

“Crazy decision to not film the whole thing all at once when there is no time gap in the story,” another fan writes. “It's not like this was season 1 where they didn't know the show would be a hit.”

Another fan writes that “this whole TV show is falling apart,” following this news as well as the earlier announcement that co-showrunner Neil Druckmann and writer Halley Gross left the show before production on Season 3 began.

Druckmann and Gross were co-writers on The Last of Us Part II, making this decision particularly worrying for fans who wanted to see a faithful adaptation of the game in television form.

The award-winning HBO show will commence filming in March next year, with production running from March until November 2026.

Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever are reprising their roles as Ellie and Abby, and the season is expected to adapt the second half of The Last of Us Part II.