AceShowbiz - It's time for a general TV audience to meet Abby, a pivotal figure from "The Last of Us" video games that players know all too well for sending them through the emotional wringer. A first look at actress Kaitlyn Dever as the character arrives in a new "The Last of Us" season 2 trailer, which dropped Thursday, September 26 to commemorate TLOU Day.

The annual fan holiday that takes place every September 26, known as "Outbreak Day" in the canon of "The Last of Us", marks the day the cordyceps outbreak that transforms the infected into zombie-like monsters reached critical mass. HBO also released an official plot description for season 2, stating, "After five years of peace following the events of the first season, Joel and Ellie's collective past catches up to them, drawing them into conflict with each other and a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one they left behind."

Kaitlyn Dever's Abby arrives in "The Last of Us" season 2. Abby is described as "a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved." We meet her in the story among a group of survivors that includes Owen (Spencer Lord), Mel (Ariela Barer), Nora (Tati Gabrielle) and Manny (Danny Ramirez).

The footage shows Abby in action, first with a solemn lone shot of her crouched by a gravesite. As the trailer progresses, we see Dever recreating a classic sequence from the games, wherein Abby is running away from a horde of Infected that have her pinned down behind a gated fence.

Reactions to the character were intense when she first appeared in 2020's "The Last of Us" Part II. Neil Druckmann, co-creator and head of gaming studio Naughty Dog, revealed he received death threats, and actress Laura Bailey, who originally voiced Abby, shared that anonymous gamers even threatened her newborn son.

On the HBO series, Isabela Merced, who joins as Dina, mentioned on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast that Dever "had to be extra secured by security when it came to the filming of this." She emphasized, "There's so many strange people in this world because there are people that actually genuinely hate Abby, who is not a real person. Just a reminder: Not a real person."

Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey reprise their roles as Joel and Ellie, joined by returning veterans Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy and Rutina Wesley as Maria. Other new cast members include Young Mazino as Jesse, Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, and Catherine O'Hara, who appears to be playing Joel's therapist.

The trailer features heartwarming moments, such as Ellie and Dina meeting, and intense sequences like Abby visiting a snow-filled graveyard before getting attacked by zombies. With HBO chairman Casey Bloys confirming that season 2 will air in the first half of 2025, fans can eagerly anticipate more emotional twists and viral threats in this beloved series.

"The Last of Us" season 2 will premiere on HBO and stream on Max sometime in 2025, courtesy of writers and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.