The Last of Us star replaced after quitting HBO series

The Last of Us has recast a main role in the forthcoming third season due to scheduling conflicts.

Based on the hit video game franchise of the same name, the post-apocalyptic drama follows a society that collapsed after a mass fungal infection transformed most of society into zombie-like creatures.

Bella Ramsey will return in the lead role of Ellie for a new season in 2027, but Manny, a character introduced in season two, will no longer be played by Danny Ramirez.

Manny is part of the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) group. The group helped Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) track down Ellie’s mentor Joel (Pedro Pascal), whom she blamed for the death of her father.

Season three will switch the show’s point of view from Ellie to Dever’s Abby, meaning Manny will play a larger role.

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Deadline reports that Spider-Man: No Way Home actor Jorge Lendeborg Jr will step into Ramirez’s shoes; the actor quit the show so he could carry out his commitments to another project.

Ramirez will instead shoot De Noche, Todd Haynes’s romance drama that was derailed when Joaquin Phoenix dropped out five days before production in August 2024.

In a coincidental twist, Ramirez’s former Last of Us co-star Pascal has replaced Phoenix in the lead role, and Variety reports the film will start shooting next month.

Ramirez will also reprise his Captain America: Brave New World role as Joaquin Torres in Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for release in December 2026.

Joining Lendeborg Jr in season three of The Last of Us will be Clea DuVall, whose impressive TV output includes Carnivale, Better Call Saul, Veep and The Handmaid's Tale. She will play a member of the Seraphites, a violent group that sacrifices their enemies in disturbing rituals.

Lendeborg Jr’s other credits include romantic comedy Love, Simon and Transformers spin-off Bumblebee.

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Isabela Merced (Dina), Gabriel Luna (Tommy), and Jeffrey Wright (Isaac) will all return for the new season, which is in production now.

The Last of Us is co-created by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann, the man behind the hit videogame.

Addressing whether the new season would be the end of the show, HBO president Casey Bloys told Deadline earlier this week: “It certainly seems that way, but on decisions like that, we will defer to the showrunners. So you can ask them.”