Fan Theory Thinks Overwatch Hero 29 Will Be Talon Boss Antonio

Every year at Blizzcon, Blizzard surprises fans with a new hero for their popular game Overwatch. In 2016, we got the official reveal on super-hacker Sombra and 2017 showed off Blackwatch-turned-Talon geneticist Moira. Understanding tradition, we know Blizzard has the next character planned for reveal during the show.

Overwatch has made it quite an event whenever new heroes are revealed, offering some sort of hints or backstory via images, video, or even comics. This is why most people think that the next character will be the Junkertown Queen that has been hinted at for ages now. But, one user on Reddit "u/Cyber_Artz" has a different theory altogether.

The theory explains that in the original Overwatch cinematic reveal trailer, several Overwatch members are shown, with even more unnamed heroes in the background. Instead of just filling out only characters that we knew of, these additional no-name people were added potentially as teasers.  Out of those in the foreground, there were a couple off to the left side that have not yet become heroes in the game or ever mentioned again at all.

"So," the theorist starts off, "in the early days of Overwatch I saw this guy pop up in the cinematic trailer among various other heroes. I always remembered him because I liked his design in that he seemed cyborg-esque like Genji but a bit messier. While he never became a hero I always kept him in the back of my mind hoping he would become a hero one day to little avail. At least UNTIL recently, more specifically Overwatch Retribution."

Earlier this year, the theory explains, a limited time event called "Overwatch Retribution" gave players the ability to play a mission that took  place as a flashback for the series. In the event, the boss of Talon, Antonio, was assassinated by Reyes (Reaper) instead of taken captive. Taking a shotgun blast to the face sent him backward out the window to his death. But, what if he didn't die? What if he was thought to be dead, but was instead turned into a cyborg?

"We know that for a while Antonio was a member of Talon who specialized in smuggling weapons, on top of being responsible for the bombings at several Overwatch bases. To do this he sent people with robotic appendages that could store bombs yet still appear human/normal," Cyber_Artz goes on, pointing out the cybernetic look to the concept hero. "So it would stand to reason that if Antonio was behind the bombings and this was one of his goons, he would have access to this kind of technology. We could argue that this woman's cybernetics could come from another source (Doomfist or Overwatch) but Doomfist was more about prosthetics that functioned normally and Overwatch was struggling to put Genji back together with all of their technology. Thus this feels unique to this girl and to an extent Antonio."

The theory explains the potential for the character being introduced in terms of how he would be played and why he'd be a shocker reveal over Junkertown Queen. "To tell you the truth, I really do think the queen could be a playable character at some point. She's highly requested and passes all the other checkpoints despite being another character from Junkertown. But let me ask you this: what would shock people more at Blizzcon? The queen or somebody else?"

While such a shocking reveal would be great in terms of story and meta potential, one major piece of damning evidence can unravel this entire theory: The cyborg in question was a member of Overwatch. Not only was he shown in "The Exhibit" as a member at the end of the short film/trailer, he's shown up elsewhere too. During the animated short titled "Recall", Winston sends out a signal all over the world to every former Overwatch agent. Several are shown, including some that had been teased in various promotional materials, including that cyborg. In the dossier image in "Recall" in a quick flash, his look changed ever slightly (less tubing coming from the back of his head), but it's meant to be the same robot-jawed, mohawk-wearing character. This is decidedly not Antonio by any stretch.

Could this have been considered a different hero or is it an early verion of Antonio? Is this some crazy fan theory? We'll find out during BlizzCon 2018, which takes place November 2 to 3, only a couple weeks away from now. Honestly, we are still waiting for Jetpack Cat to show up.

In other Overwatch news, Blizzard recently banned over 1,400 accounts in South Korea. Also, check out McCree's terrifying new Halloween skin.