One of the biggest elements that set the originalOverwatchapart from its competition back in 2016 was its surprisingly deep lore, and thanks to Blizzard’s phenomenal animated trailers, eager fans already knew a great deal about the cast months before they’d even have the controller in their hands. Beginning in March 2016 with “Recall,” a short that sees the beloved sentient ape Winston reinstate the Overwatch program,Overwatch’s animated shortsmay only be around 8-minutes long each, but they can pack a serious punch, andOverwatch 2should pick up right where they left off.
One of the most belovedOverwatchanimated shorts is simply titled “Dragons,” and acts as the introduction to bothHanzo and Genji, two members of the originalOverwatchline-up. In just eight minutes, fans get both characters' entire backstory, their motivations, their relationship with one another, and a shockingly smooth, flashy fight scene. “Dragons” is widely considered to be one of the bestOverwatchshorts out there, but for some reason, Hanzo’s story has never moved past this point.Overwatch 2has the perfect opportunity to move Hanzo and Genji’s story forward.
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Overwatch 2 Should Follow Up on the Dragons Short
Overwatch’s “Dragons” short originally released in May 2016, just a week before the first game launched. The short tells two concurrent stories, the first being the tale of two ancient dragon brothers who fought one another for power, while the second sees Hanzo break into theShimada Castle estate. After Hanzo incapacitates the estate’s security team, he sneaks into the main hall, where he sits down and prepares a ritual. Before Hanzo can start, however, he’s interrupted by a mysterious ninja, and the two begin to fight.
As the two fight, the ninja taunts Hanzo, asking why he goes through so much trouble to come here every year, and honor someone he murdered. Hanzo exclaims that it was his duty to kill his brother, that he did it in order to keep the peace in his family, but he still wishes to honor his sacrifice. Pushed to his limits, Hanzo unleashes hisDragonstrike ultimate, which the ninja turns back around on him, a move that only a Shimada family member can pull off. The ninja reveals himself to be Genji, the brother that Hanzo believed he had killed. Rather than take revenge, Genji says that he has forgiven Hanzo, and now he must forgive himself. Before disappearing into the night, Genji says that the world is changing once again, and it’s time for Hanzo to pick a side.
As far asOverwatch’s otherwise extensive lore goes, that’s all the story for Hanzo so far. None of the comics or in-game references have really hinted at how Hanzo has been impacted by this encounter with his brother, or what his next steps were.Overwatch 2now has the perfect opportunity to push this forward story, and show how Hanzo has changed following the revelation that his brother is still alive. The most obvious next step is to show Hanzo acceptingthe call to join Overwatch, just as his brother seemingly does.
From here, fans should then be allowed to see Hanzo reconciling with Genji, and maybe fleshing out more of the motivations behind the fight between them years ago.Overwatch 2should really double down on expanding more of the series' lore, especially for characters like Genji and Hanzo that haven’t really been in the spotlight since before the game’s release six years ago.
Overwatch 2launches in early access for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 4.
