When the trailer for The Last of Us Part II was revealed a few days ago at the Playstation Experience, fans went bananas, but also wondered if Ellie was going to be the main character for the story of the second game seeing as how the trailer focused primarily on her. Well, Neil Druckmann cleared things up by confirming that yes, Ellie is going to be taking on the role of Joel for this game, as she'll be the main characters that players will use.
The game takes place some years after the last one, seeing an older (19) Ellie who is fueled by hate. Druckmann also went on to mention that Ellie's play style is very different to Joel's, but he also didn't want to reveal to much information about Ellie's "evolution." Druckmann also had something to say regarding why the game is titled The Last of Us Part II and not The Last of Us 2. In his eyes, the games are both parts of a much larger story and they are complementary to each other.
The game is still a bit off before it's released, but Druckmann has promised that more details will be released as the months progress.