Following the recent announcement of Kaitlyn Dever playing Abby and Young Mazino as Jesse in The Last of Us season 2, it has also been confirmed that Peruvian Isabela Merced would be joining the cast of the series as the character Dina, the love interest of Ellie in The Last of Us Part II video game. She is also the ex of Jesse.

Alongside Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, The Last of Us season 2 will explore the effects of Joel saving Ellie from the Fireflies doctors surgically trying to “find” a cure to the Cordyceps infection via analysis of her brain. The second season has been confirmed to follow the second video game and its events.

Casting Dina was no easy feat, as co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann stated, “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.”

With Merced’s incredibly supportive fanbase already praising the casting in The Last of Us season 2, it’s going to be a stacked year for the actress as she’s also confirmed to appear in Sony Picture’s Madame Web as Anya Corazón, aka Spider-Girl. Nevertheless, it’ll be a treat to see how Merced’s range is shown as she goes from a superhero to a survivor and partner in one of the most iconic video game adaptations of all time.