With the colorful characters of Overwatch 2, every hero is expected to be a reference to something from another franchise, like Brigitte being designed around a paladin and Junkertown standing in for the Mad Max universe.
With OW2 recently revealing their new tank hero, Hazard, there are some similarities to another huge franchise—particularly one developed by CD Projekt Red; now, it’s not The Witcher.
Overwatch 2’s Hazard
Blizzard is now going hard on their backstory for Hazard, and while the cinematic short was more of a showcase of his powers, the recently released backstory gives a better look at the incoming hero and his band of ‘Phreaks.’
“See what life was like for Hazard as he tried to make it in a broken world, and how everything changed when he found his true calling with the Phreaks.”
According to Hazard’s backstory, he enlisted in the army when he was younger and lost most of his limbs during an accident during the Omnic Crisis. With the ‘system’ eventually failing him, Hazard turns to his group of Phreaks, who help him acquire upgrades and further enhancements for his body.
If the system wasn’t going to help the Phreaks with their problems, they may as well fight against it.
But Isn’t That Just Cyberpunk?
As far as the ‘cyberpunk’ genre goes, Sombra is probably the closest Overwatch hero to that genre, but it does seem like Hazard could very much exist in the world of Night City. Looking at the motion comic, some fans can even deduce that he looks like David Martinez from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
In Edgerunners, David also fights against ‘the system,’ and throughout his journey, he frequently enhances his boy—eventually leading to the deterioration of his mind.
Though Hazard may look like he’s still got his mental faculties working, his love for ‘chroming up’ makes him feel like a Night City merch, plus the backstory of his friends embracing the ‘punk’ lifestyle. The story even pushes the point further by having an omnic with a Mohawk doing a rock concert.
Returning to the cinematic reveal for Hazard, fans have also noticed that he has the same kind of ‘mantis blades’ that are a common body enhancement from Cyberpunk.
Chrome Up, Chooms
With Overwatch 2 essentially paying tribute to all kinds of genres, it was only a matter of time before they introduced someone inspired by the Cyberpunk genre. It’s unclear if any more Phreaks will be joining the roster, but it’s an interesting faction to add to the world of Overwatch.
Now fans have Overwatch, Talon, Shambali (Zenyatta’s group), Null Sector, the Junkers, Ashe’s Deadlock Gang, the Vishkar Corporation (Symmetra’s faction), and now the Phreaks.
Of course, there are characters who don’t belong to any one group, but the thing with the factions is that everyone tends to jump from one group to another, which makes the lore rich.
Overwatch 2 Season 14 starts on Dec. 10 and will be playable for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4|5, and Nintendo Switch.