The Last of Us Season 3: Manny Recast Amid Key Cast and Creative Shifts

The upcoming third season of HBO’s The Last of Us will feature a recast portrayal of the character Manny.

Variety has confirmed that Danny Ramirez, who joined the series in Season 2, will not return for Season 3 due to scheduling conflicts. The role of Manny is now set to be recast, though the replacement actor has not yet been announced.

Spoilers for The Last of Us follow below.

Manny is a supporting character in The Last of Us narrative. A former Firefly, he later aligned with the Washington Liberation Front (WLF). He was part of a small WLF unit assisting Abby Anderson (played by Kaitlyn Dever) in tracking down and killing Joel (Pedro Pascal), following Joel’s violent assault on a Firefly hospital—where Abby’s father was among those killed.

Beyond The Last of Us, Danny Ramirez is widely recognized for his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) role as Sam Wilson / Falcon in Captain America: Brave New World and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. He is also set to reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday.

Ramirez is not the only major departure ahead of Season 3: Neil Druckmann exited the series after Season 2 to concentrate fully on Naughty Dog’s game development pipeline—including the highly anticipated release of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Druckmann served as co-showrunner, director, writer, and executive producer for the HBO adaptation.

The Last of Us Season 3 is scheduled to premiere in 2027 and is expected to center its narrative arc on Abby. Meanwhile, Naughty Dog continues development on Intergalactic and is reportedly exploring a second unannounced project—which may include The Last of Us Part III.