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Danny Ramirez didn’t have a huge part in The Last of Us season two, but the way the story was told, he was set to be much more prominent in season three. Now, though, due to scheduling conflicts, HBO is going to have to replace the actor for the upcoming season.
Nexus Point News first reported, which was later confirmed, the need to recast. It’s a blow to the show for sure because Ramirez is a massive up-and-coming star. For sci-fi fans, he’s probably best known as Joaquin Torres in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, then taking Sam Wilson’s mantle as Falcon in Captain America: Brave New World. Before that, he was one of the main supporting characters in Top Gun: Maverick, as well as several independent films.
On The Last of Us, Ramirez played Manny, one of Abby’s friends and WLF members who traveled from Seattle to Wyoming to kill Joel. That means, in season two, we only saw him a little bit. But, since season three of the show was going to shift the focus to Abby instead of Ellie, Manny clearly would’ve had a larger role as the show works to humanize the characters we expect to be villains. You have to assume that’s a big part of why Ramirez took the role in the first place: because of what it held for the future.
So, the question then becomes, what is so big that Ramirez would drop one of the biggest shows on TV, The Last of Us, for it? Well, we know for a fact that he appears in Avengers: Doomsday, so you have to think he may also appear in Avengers: Secret Wars, which is set to shoot later this year. Oddsmakers would surely put the best odds on that. A third Top Gun would probably qualify, too, but everything we’ve heard about that is that it’s still a while away.
Did Danny Ramirez leave a bigger role in season three of The Last of Us for Avengers: Secret Wars? It seems possible. But he left it for something, and now, we wait and see what it was and to see if HBO can get an actor as good or as well-known to replace him.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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Source: Gizmodo