Why Danny Ramirez Left HBO's The Last Of Us Before Season 3

The second season of HBO's "The Last of Us" put every character through the wringer. Surviving a post-apocalyptic world overrun by the infected is bad enough, but season 2 brought the worst of human impulses to the forefront, setting the stage for a climactic third season. While this upcoming season was greenlit back in April, co-showrunner Neil Druckmann stepped away three months later, leaving Craig Mazin in charge. This isn't the only major change that season 3 has to contend with, as Danny Ramirez, who played Manny in Season 2, will not be reprising this role in the upcoming season. Per Entertainment Weekly, Ramirez will be recast due to scheduling conflicts.

Ramirez is best known for playing Joaquin Torres/Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is even set to appear in the highly-anticipated "Avengers: Doomsday." You might also remember him as Lieutenant Mickey Garcia in "Top Gun: Maverick" and Wes in "The Gifted." The actor's future projects include Julius Onah's "Samo Lives," which also stars Antony Starr and Jeffrey Wright (who voiced Isaac Dixon in "The Last of Us Part II" and also played the character in season 2 of the HBO series).

Manny is introduced alongside Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who emerges as the primary antagonist in season 2, at least from Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel's (Pedro Pascal) perspectives. While Manny's presence is somewhat low-key compared to the rest of Abby's group, he has been portrayed as a loyal, cautious personality so far. He is, however, capable of extreme ruthlessness, as evidenced by his actions to support Abby's quest for revenge in season 2.

Spoilers for HBO's "The Last of Us" ahead.

Season 2 doesn't offer us too much insight into Abby and her allies, although we are clued in to the fact that they intend to punish Joel for the hospital massacre that took place in the first season. In the aftermath of the massacre, Manny was the first to question the reason behind Joel's actions, as he failed to understand why a single child (Ellie) would be worth protecting at the cost of so many deaths. On the day the group planned to ambush Joel, Manny suggested violent tactics to retrieve information from one of the Jackson patrols, but the rest were hesitant to take such extreme measures. Manny was also the one to hold Ellie down as she watched Joel die (after kicking her in the abdomen), before leaving her severely wounded.

As "The Last of Us" has diverged from the source material before, it is difficult to pinpoint Manny's intended role in season 3 and whether he will follow the same path as his video game counterpart. Season 3's focal point, however, is Abby, and we will likely witness events from her perspective. Mazin spoke to Deadline about season 3, highlighting its core themes: 

"The question that we're asking, and the thing we're interrogating in this story is, when you've committed such horrible things, depending on your circumstance, can you ever come back from that?" 

This will be an intriguing moral dilemma to untangle, and we can hope that season 3 of "The Last of Us" will be able to pull this off with great depth and conviction.