The Last of Us season 2 casts Madame Web star Isabela Merced in major role

From Dora to Dina

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The Last of Usseason 2 continues to round out its starry cast with the addition ofDora and the Lost City of Goldstar Isabela Merced.

Revealed on social media yesterday (January 11), Naughty Dog – the developer of the award-winning and belovedThe Last of Usgame series – confirmed Merced as the show’s newest hire. Per the video game creator’s post on X/Twitter, Merced will portray Dina, a key character inThe Last of Us Part II, which the TV adaptation’s second season will largely draw from.

We can’t wait to see Isabela Merced’s portrayal of Dina in @TheLastOfUsHBO Season 2! ❤️ https://t.co/Iqz10g0urUJanuary 11, 2024

Merced, whose other notable roles include 2023 animated filmMigrationand 2021 TV showMaya and the Three, is the third actor to land a coveted role inThe Last of Usseason 2.

A day earlier (January 10),Netflix’sBeefstar Young Mazino was confirmed to be playing Jessein the show’s second season. On January 9, HBO and Naughty Dog also confirmed thatNo One Will Save You’s Kaitlyn Dever had signed on to portray Abby, the deuteragonist inThe Last of Us Part II.Interestingly, the show’s sophomore outing reunites Dever and Merced after the pair worked together on 2022HulumovieRosaline.

In a statement provided toVariety, co-showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said: “Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable. You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away. We couldn’t be prouder to have her join our family.”

Welcome Dina pic.twitter.com/cK2Lrp51SuJanuary 11, 2024

Filming on the next installment of the critically-acclaimedMaxTV show is set to begin in February, so it’s unsurprising that we’ve seen daily cast announcements throughout this week.

Will we get another today (January 12) ahead of the weekend? Perhaps. There are three other major supporting characters inThe Last of Us Part IIwho are yet to be cast (or, rather, announced) for one of thebest Max shows' second season. We could get all three by the end of the day; or HBO and Naughty Dog could wait until next week to reveal these individuals. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more.

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Isabela Merced’s breakout year

2024 is going to be a big year for Merced. The 22-year-old American has been acting since 2013’sThe House that Jack Built, but she’s slowly risen to prominence with impressive performances in numerous movie and TV roles.

Now, it seems Merced’s breakout year has arrived. BeforeThe Last of Usfans get to see her take on fan-favorite character Dina, Merced will star in three of 2024’snew movies– two of which could be memorable for wildly different reasons.

First up isMadame Web, the latestSpider-Manmovie spin-off, which is due out in theaters in mid-February. Itstime-hopping trailer drew comparisons withTerminatorandLokiseason 2, but Spidey fans were equally unimpressed by its cringe-laden dialog and generic superhero tropes.

Merced is also set to play the lead role inAlien: Romulus, the latest entry in the iconic sci-fi horror franchise, andone of 18 epic movies I’m most excited for in 2024. After two lackluster films inPrometheusandAlien: Covenant, I’m hoping Merced can help to turn the series' fortunes around.

For those interested, the final flick she’s set to feature in isTurtles All the Way Down, a film adaptation of John Green’s 2017 romance novel of the same name.

If you’re curious to find out how good an actor Merced is, and what she’ll bring to the role of Dina on one of the world’sbest streaming services(i.e. Max), you might want to check her out in one or more of these movies. Whether you do or don’t, her star is only set to rise with her involvement inThe Last of Usseason 2 – an opinion I’m sure you’ll all agree with when the series returns sometime in 2025.

The Last of Us season 1 is available to stream now on Max (US), Sky Atlantic (UK), and Binge (Australia).

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As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

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