Trying to make a collaboration in games is a complicated process that involves a lot of brainstorming, and while Overwatch 2’s new limited-time event with One-Punch Man has resulted in some great skins, it wasn’t without its tribulations.
Doomfist as Saitama seemed like a no-brainer, and the Kiriko depiction of Terrible Tornado is a quality addition to the hero gallery as well. However, some fans were left feeling like Blizzard didn’t do enough with Genji’s Genos skin and perhaps missed some opportunities.
Talking to fans during a developer chat today, Overwatch 2’s game director Aaron Keller explained the crossover’s creative process and suggested one of the ideas they didn’t execute may have been better than all four they did. “One of the funnest parts of this is just talking about what different characters we could use,” the Blizzard dev said. “There were so many different things we talked about that didn’t make it.”
Mentioning numerous characters from the anime like the Deep Sea King, Garou, and Sonic, Keller and OW2 community manager Jodie Mckaughan certainly had fans mulling over the possibilities.
But perhaps the biggest bombshell Keller dropped was that one of the considerations the team had was to make a censored version of Puri Puri Prisoner for Reinhardt.
As the embodiment of the “gigachad” meme, Puri-Puri Prisoner is an S-Class hero in One-Punch Man with a cleft chin, long eyelashes, and a gigantic muscular physique. His size and power are matched by an equally flamboyant personality.
Perhaps the main reason why the idea didn’t make the cut was less about how Reinhardt looked as Puri-Puri, and more about the character’s background. While Overwatch is known for it’s inclusivity, Puri-Puri is a bit of a problematic character in One-Punch lore.
His status as a prisoner in the series, despite being a “hero,” stems from his history of sexually assaulting heroes and criminals that he found attractive. In the series, he repeatedly makes comments about the appearances of other males. This is likely why Keller made sure to note they brainstormed about a “censored version” of Puri-Puri, and it’s likely also why he didn’t make it in the game.
