The Last Of Us Hero May Finally Get The Story They Deserve

3 hours ago 6

Published Mar 22, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT

Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.

No Last of Us character has an unerring moral compass, and a lot of what will determine whether players and audiences like a character, much less sympathize with them and attempt to understand them, is the amount of time that they get to spend learning about them (in the case of the game, this also translates to how long gamers get to play as a character). The storytelling structure of The Last of Us Part 2 is divisive, for example, but it is a neat way to challenge how preconceived views of Abby Anderson may shift as gamers play.

Season 3 of HBO’s The Last of Us TV show adaptation is underway, and all we truly know about it is that it is expected to complete the narrative of The Last of Us Part 2. It was recently announced that Patrick Wilson has joined the cast for what could well be the last season, and the incredibly high likelihood that he is playing Abby’s father, Jerry, suggests that the character’s traditionally tiny role will balloon in the live-action series.

Abby’s Dad Is The Last Of Us’ Unsung Hero

Jerry Anderson is one of the best Last of Us characters due to how intrinsically paramount he is to the story, particularly in terms of how he is tethered to the lives of the Fireflies, Joel, and Ellie. He has what can be considered the most brutal responsibility in the entire universe: killing a teenage girl in order to theoretically manufacture a cure from the mutated Cordyceps infection in her brain, which Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann has stated would have been possible and successful if it was not for Joel’s violent intervention.

Siding with what the Fireflies considered to be the good of humankind was not a difficult decision for Jerry. The Last of Us Part 2 reveals that he would have made the same choice if it was his daughter who needed to die during surgery when she asks him directly, with Abby giving him her hypothetical blessing. This represents the crucial debate that is posited in the first game, where you can either sacrifice the few to save the many, or vice versa.

Joel would have agreed wholeheartedly with Jerry and the Fireflies’ plight before he met and grew to love Ellie. However, by the end of the first Last of Us game, his stance is inverted. Joel is ultimately willing to kill anyone and deny the world whatever sliver of a chance there is of a cure so that Ellie is safe, and that includes lying directly to her about what occurred at the hospital in Salt Lake City.

Joel’s death in The Last of Us Part 2 is devastating. That said, it cannot be argued that his murder at the hands of Abby and her Washington Liberation Front companions was a spontaneous act of arbitrary cruelty. Joel’s own brand of revenge has involved far more torture and merciless bloodshed, for instance, and fans of Joel do not seem to criticize him for his choices as much as the hypocritical criticisms of Abby do of hers.

HBO’s The Last Of Us May Have Cast Its Jerry

It is a flattering testament to how typecast Patrick Wilson is as a generic father character that he was instantly believed to be playing Jerry as soon as his casting was announced. Patrick Wilson undoubtedly has terrific bandwidth as an actor, and yet many of his defining roles have him be a somewhat ordinary man whose primary traits are grace, calm, and love.

The Last of Us would be hard-pressed to find a better actor than Patrick Wilson to play Jerry, especially as the character is tasked with endearing audiences to Abby. Of course, that will not be nearly as difficult for the TV show to accomplish when it has taken deliberate efforts not to be as controversial or biting as the game it is adapting.

Plus, Season 3 will have the luxury of the first two seasons being distanced from it, whereas Joel’s death was still fresh by the time players switch to Abby in The Last of Us Part 2. Focusing almost wholly on her perspective, the series can continue to develop the relationship between Abby and Jerry to reinforce it further, much like it will also hopefully flesh out Abby’s relationship with characters such as Owen, Mel, Manny, Isaac, Lev, and Yara.

TLOU’s TV Show Can Give Him A Big Role

Jerry leaves a lasting impression after players—as a young Abby, prior to her quest for vengeance and newfound muscle mass—experience a flashback sequence where he is portrayed as kind and altruistic. He is a normal dad, only with the profound gift that apparently nobody else in The Last of Us’ post-apocalypse landscape has of being able to produce a vaccine.

Jerry’s character is ultimately in service to making Abby more tolerable and sympathetic. The Last of Us Part 2 would not have been as digestible regarding what it achieves with Ellie and Abby’s dynamic if there was no reason to like her or Jerry.

Therefore, not only are players meant to feel conflicted about the choices Joel makes when they see how his lies and actions have affected Ellie, but now they are also meant to side with Abby and Jerry when the sequel suddenly has Abby become playable for the better part of the back half of the game.

If Patrick Wilson is actually playing Jerry in The Last of Us Season 3, we can probably expect to see a lengthier adaptation of the flashback sequence at the zoo in Salt Lake City, as this is where we see Abby and Jerry interact most. In fact, Abby and Jerry only share three scenes in the whole of The Last of Us Part 2, and a high-profile actor playing Jerry should guarantee that they will all be featured in The Last of Us’ show:

The Salt Lake City zoo scene, where Abby and Jerry have a lighthearted conversation—the last one they would ever have—and rescue a wounded zebra caught in barbed wire.
The Salt Lake City hospital scene, where Abby and Jerry discuss the surgery Jerry is about to perform, as well as the choice they are making to save humanity.
The Salt Lake City hospital aftermath scene, where Abby discovers her father dead and lying in a pool of his own blood after Joel killed him and fled with Ellie.

The Last of Us Season 3 is expected to premiere on HBO Max in 2027.