Naughty Dog has been quietly working on its next game—Intergalactic—and while the studio has been tight-lipped regarding any actual details about it, director Neil Druckmann has been teasing that an actor from The Last of Us might feature in it. On his Instagram account, Druckmann posted a picture of Merle Dandridge wearing a full motion capture suit. While the picture alone doesn’t mean much, Druckman also referred to her as “a n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶ intergalactic treasure.”
Dandridge has worked with Naughty Dog on many projects after she first played the role of Marlene in the original 2013 release of The Last of Us. We saw her reprising the role in The Last of Us Part 2, as well as HBO’s live-action adaptation. Outside of Naughty Dog’s projects, Dandridge has also worked on other major games, including the role of Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2 and its two episodic sequels.
Reports have indicated that Naughty Dog is quite far along in development, with one indicating that the company might be aiming to release the game in mid-2027. However, another report from December alleged that the project demanded weeks of mandatory overtime thanks to “several missed deadlines”. This overtime was reportedly an effort by Naughty Dog to “get the production back on track”, with “some teams” also having put in “long hours” to complete the game’s debut trailer.
Actor Tony Dalton, known for roles like Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul and Jack Duquesne in MCU projects, has also been confirmed to be playing a role in Intergalactic. In an interview from January, he discussed working with Druckmann on HBO’s The Last of Us, and how the two became friends, leading to his role in Intergalactic. Describing the process itself, Dalton said that portraying a video game character was “like nothing I’ve ever done in my life.”
“It’s crazy. It’s like nothing I’ve ever done in my life. These guys are top of the line. You put on these skin-tight suits with dots all over the place–all over your face and everything. They have a whole set. Huge, huge set. It’s amazing,” Dalton said.
Voice actor Troy Baker has also previously spoken about working on Druckmann, and revealed that they often butt heads with each other because of how passionate both of them are.
“We did two weeks ago, man. Neil and I will always, it’s our vibe,” said Baker in November. “We just love to butt up against each other. We were doing a table read, and I was literally like, ‘Why are you giving me s*** right now? I’m asking you a question!’ And everybody else is like, ‘Our mom and dad are fighting, are we still going to Disneyland?’ We’re fine. We’re fine!”
Intergalactic is being developed for PS5. Druckmann has referred to the project as being the “most ambitious,” “most expansive,” and “most expensive” Naughty Dog game yet. “We’re making it, we’re playing it. We’re firing on all cylinders. I’ve said this before, but I really mean it, I’m really feeling it right now: It’s the most ambitious game we’ve ever made. It’s the most expansive game we’ve ever made, maybe the most expensive, by the time we finish it.”
