At a panel during SXSW on March 8, HBO revealed the official trailer for season two of ‘The Last of Us.’

The trailer (below) showcases an expansion on the initial footage/teaser and gives us a glimpse at new characters.

The creators of the Emmy-winning series were joined by the central cast on-stage Saturday to give audiences a taste of what’s to come in season two.

On-stage cast included Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal, Kaitlyn Dever, Gabriel Luna, Isabela Merced and Young Mazino.

Co-showrunner Craig Mazin teased different types of infected in season two: “A lot of what’s going on in the season is evolution and change. Ellie is growing up, and she is changing. This town of Jackson is growing up. It is expanding. It’s taking in refugees. And the world outside is changing. It was important to us to always move the ball forward with the infected. It’s not a question of just more, but something else, something that is meaningful to what is going on, so they don’t just become NPCs.”

Lead star Bella Ramsey chimed in on the relationship between Joel and Ellie: “[Joel and Ellie’s] relationship has changed a little, and we start to see why” — Ramsey noting the conclusion of the first season where Joel swears the truth to Ellie about the Fireflies. They continued: “I mean that ‘you swore’ kind of gives you a little idea of where Ellie is at. I think Ellie has that in the back of her head this whole time, and that’s where we pick them up. And they’re not best of friends. She’s quite sad. But I mean, there’s a lot of layers to friendship.”

Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal share a touching moment after the official trailer debut.
Courtesy of Armin Suljovic.

Regarding Abby’s character, actress Kaitlyn Dever, a new addition to the series stated: “I think I just wanted to really focus on who Abby is in her core and her emotional journey and establishing her grief and how broken she is. That was the main goal for me.”

“Kaitlyn was within The Last of Us DNA because when she was younger and [co-showrunner Neil Druckmann] and I were contemplating making a Last of Us as a movie were considered casting her for Ellie. And when the show rolled around she was no longer convincingly 14, I think it’s fair to say. Our method is to sit with [actors] and talk to them. Making the show is hard. It’s hard and grueling. She’s an amazing actress and you got to want to do this and she wanted it,” Craig Mazin said about casting Dever.

*Kaitlyn Dever during the panel, Courtesy of Armin Suljovic.*

Another newcomer to the series, Isabela Merced who plays Dina (a pivotal character to Ellie’s story in the video game ‘The Last of Us Part II’) shared her relationship on and off-screen with Ramsey: “It kind of mirrored real life, in a way. I felt really lucky to have Bella, and I think Ellie’s really lucky to have Dina–like a ride or die, somebody who’s willing to fight, somebody she’s going to suffer with after nine months in the cold, and [with] all the weather and stuff.”