While Overwatch 2 launched with an already-huge cast of characters, developer Blizzard Entertainment wants to expand the game’s universe even further with new names and faces. And while we might not know exactly what hero is coming next, we do know that we’re getting a support.
Heroes form the core of the Overwatch 2 experience. What would the game be without the joyous wall-riding of Lúcio, the quippy comments of Tracer, or the quiet elegance of Widowmaker? Each of the game’s heroes is unique in both personality and abilities, both of which inform each other. Junkrat, for example, enjoys explosives and fires, a consequence of which is that grenades are the core of his ability kit and his hair is permanently on fire.
Throughout the game’s life, the dev team plans on releasing plenty of new heroes every other season to expand the roster and bring new experiences. One of the most enjoyable parts of being a fan is guessing who the next hero might be based on hints, clues, and lore.
With that being said, who might the next Overwatch 2 hero be?
Overwatch 2 new support hero teasers, leaks, and speculation
Ever since Overwatch 2 was announced, players have been speculating which characters might be added as heroes. Blizzard has a knack for making non-hero lore characters into playable heroes later on, as was the case with Ramattra and his initial appearance in an Archives event cutscene in the first Overwatch. Because of this, players are always scanning external lore pieces, like short stories and animated shorts, for potential new heroes.
In a roadmap for OW2 released in mid-May, Blizzard teased the upcoming support hero with an image that depicted a particular landscape that players quickly found the origins of. Internet sleuths noticed the “new support hero” label in the roadmap had a background image identical to a poster of Peru that’s in one of the rooms of the Antarctic Peninsula control map.
With no known characters from that area already a part of the Overwatch 2 roster or in its lore, this suggests that the new support hero will be someone, or something, we’ve never seen before.
That theory was further supported by a quick video teaser Blizzard published in June. At the end of a video previewing PvE content coming at the start of season six in August, there was a short clip of what appeared to be a heroic, goddess-like figure flying into the sun.
In a post to Twitter, Blizzard senior animator Kyle Disanjh confirmed that it was a “little sneak peek” at the game’s next hero. He also confirmed that the hero identifies as “she” and included a smiling sun emoji suggesting that the hero had some sort of sun-related power.
Since the teaser video, players have started to theorize what this new hero will look like and how they might perform. Given the hero’s potential Peruvian origins and the solar focus in teasers, I’d expect the hero to have some connection to the ancient Incan sun god Inti.
Fans on social media also noted that the new hero’s weapon looks like a blade that was popularly used in the Inca Empire. Additionally, the hero seems to have feathers as a part of her headpiece, which fans also tied to her potential ancient Peruvian or Incan background.
Related: The start and end dates for all Overwatch 2 seasons
To further tease the new hero, game director Aaron Keller confirmed with players that some of the recent fan speculation for the upcoming character is accurate. While he didn’t go into any details, Keller added another teaser for fans in a blog post by sharing an image of was labeled as a “Solar Threading Ritual,” which appears to be the potential source of our newest hero’s power.
What role will the new Overwatch 2 hero be?
Blizzard confirmed that the next hero, which should be scheduled for release at the beginning of season six, will be a support hero. The support role has fewer heroes in it than the other two roles in the game, DPS and tank, despite each game requiring two support players per team. Following season six’s support hero release, Blizzard intends on making the game’s following new hero in season eight a tank.
Overwatch characters that could be a new OW2 hero
While there is an abundance of potential characters that come from the lore of the Overwatch universe, it can be difficult to keep up with all of the potential new heroes to come to the game. For that reason, we’ve accumulated a list of non-playable characters that Blizzard has introduced to fans since the game’s inception.
Blizzard has done a sufficient job at heavily teasing the next OW2 hero months before its release, but there are still many other potential characters in the game’s lore that could be a new hero moving forward.
Among the most substantive speculation is MEKA pilot “Overlord.” As the youngest member of D.Va’s crime-fighting squad of mech flyers, Seung-hwa Shi is a former pro gamer, just like D.Va. Donning the nickname Overlord, the bushy-haired youngster appears in the fifth comic of the series New Blood, which came out almost exactly a year ago, and he was also in the game’s ninth animated short “Shooting Star,” which was released in 2018.
The notion that he could be the next Overwatch hero started to gain steam after Keller confirmed that a new support hero was on the way because, in New Blood, Overlord was depicted repairing the mechs of his MEKA squad members during a mission.
Outside of Overlord, there is a slew of characters that could make their way into Overwatch 2. And knowing the way Blizzard likes to keep players on their toes, the new hero could be just about anyone. Here is a list of characters from the Overwatch universe we know about who might end up on the roster:
- Camilla, gladiator depicted at Colosseo
- Casino, MEKA mech pilot
- Dae-Hyun, D.va’s friend and mechanic
- Dmon, MEKA mech pilot leader
- Emily, Tracer’s girlfriend
- Emre Sarioglu, former member of Overwatch
- Geiger, contestant in Junker Queen cinematic
- Iggy, Omnic from the London Calling comics
- King, MEKA mech pilot
- Lnyx17, Omnic hacker who works with Zarya
- Magnus, gladiator depicted at Colosseo
- Mauga, member of Talon
- Maximus, gladiator depicted at Colosseo
- Maximillian, one of Talon’s leader
- Meri, contestant in Junker Queen cinematic
- Overlord, MEKA mech pilot
- Sam Amari, Pharah’s father
- Sanjay Korpal, one of Talon’s leaders and official from Vishkar Corp
- Titus, gladiator depicted at Colosseo
- Zephyrus, gladiator depicted at Colosseo
