Overwatch 2 teases first new hero from 2026

Overwatch 2 recently released a short story video that strongly suggested that Anran will be coming to the game soon, and leaked ultimate voice lines may almost confirm that she is. Although there has been no official word on what heroes will be up to Overwatch 2 next, there is an extremely high chance that Anran will be among them.

For most people Overwatch 2s life, three new heroes have been added to the hero shooter every year. By 2025, these characters included Freja, Wuyang, and Vendetta, the latter of which had only arrived in Overwatch 2 Season 20. As of right now, the new heroes for 2026 are shrouded in mystery, but players can assume there will be three more, coming in Seasons 22, 24, and 26.

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Overwatch 2 Hero 46 is probably Anran Ye

However, Overwatch 2 may have just teased who Season 22's Hero 46 will be. “The Invitation” is a new short story narrated by Winston's voice actor Crispin Freeman Overwatch 2 recently released. The video centers around his decision to send invitations to promising candidates for Overwatch – specifically Wuyang and Anran Ye, two members of Wuxing University in China. The former is an aquatic support hero that was dropped under Overwatch 2 Season 18, while the latter is his fiery older sister, appearing in his backstory and cinematic trailer, where she was also invited to join Overwatch alongside her brother. While both are featured in the new art revealed in “The Invitation,” the camera focuses more on Anran than Wuyang, which immediately caught the attention of fans, who believed it could be a teaser for the character's debut as a playable hero.

Not long after, a leak all but confirmed that those suspicions were almost certainly founded. Following a tip from Portaloverwatch, OverFire discovered new voice lines in the game from Echo in Overwatch 2 where she says “Burn the sky!” in English and “Flaming feathers scorch the sky!” in Chinese, share them on Twitter. In addition, these voice lines are already in several different locations, which suggests that Anran may be quite far along in development.

This is far from the only teaser player has received for Anran Overwatch 2 also. In addition to the fact that she was directly invited to join the organization in Wuyang's cinematic trailer, “Elemental Kin,” she could also be seen in an official post shared last Christmas, with Anran being the only character present in the art that is currently not playable.

It is important to note that this does not technically mean that Anran is coming Overwatch 2 in season 22, or even later in 2026. It is possible that this evidence was misinterpreted, or that Anran could come much later. But with so much growing evidence, it might be more surprising if Anran wasn't added to the list soon than it would be if she was.

What other heroes might be coming to Overwatch 2 in 2026?

As for the other heroes that players can see, there are a lot of different options that have been teased lately. Former Overwatch agent Emre Sarioglu appeared briefly in Freya's movie trailer and backstory, and Omnic Talon boss Maximilien has appeared a suspiciously high number of times since late 2024. Also, a recent Easter egg on Busan suggests new activity from the MEKA Squad, which could involve one of everyone joining her Dies. Overwatch 2.

Anyway, Overwatch 2 fans won't have to wait long to find out. A recent Weekly Recall blog suggested Overwatch 2 has a busy schedule early this year, meaning players can expect to see some big news very soon. There are also four more empty seats Overwatch 2s in-game Story feature after “The Invitation”, so there will likely be more short stories, movies or series for players to enjoy in the near future.