Overwatch 2: 10 Characters Who Should Join the Roster in 2026

Overwatch 2 has a diverse roster of characters from different locations around the world, spanning across the three in-game roles of Tank, DPS, and Support. This roster of lovable characters is one of the most important aspects of the game to fans, which makes new hero additions even more exciting and important. As we head into 2026, fans are starting to wonder what the year may bring in terms of new playable heroes (and villains), with opportunities for long-time names in the lore and old concepts to make a revival. Without further ado, here are ten characters from the Overwatch lore that would make brilliant playable character additions in 2026.

Emre Sarioglu

Emre is a Turkish soldier who joined Overwatch following the Omnic Crisis, being the first high-profile recruit to join the organization. Notably, he is included in a photo from Overwatch’s past that features other core members such as Reinhardt, young Pharah, Ana, Soldier: 76, Gabriel (aka Reaper), Torbjorn, Mercy, Cassidy, and Sojourn. As of Sojourn’s release in early OW2, this leaves Emre as the last core member from this photo to have not made it to the in-game roster...yet.

That’s not to say that we won’t ever see Emre in Overwatch 2, though. In fact, recent seasons of the game seem to point in the other direction, with new lore entries and other characters being introduced with links to his character. Most notably, Freja, who released on DPS in Season 16, has a connection to Emre. He was mentioned in her origin story, as Freja used to work as an Overwatch SAR operative, but ultimately found a new role as a bounty hunter following the collapse of the organization. However, it was also revealed in Freja’s hero trailer, "The Hunt Begins’ that Emre, for whatever reason, is one of her bounty targets – having been contracted by Maximilien. Considering next to nothing is known about Emre other than a few voicelines shared by other characters and the one iconic photo fans know well by now, there’s finally the potential to learn more about this hero. Plus, getting to see some kind of comic or cinematic battle between Freja and Emre as they dive deeper into their past ties to Overwatch would be one heck of a way to get fans hyped for his character.

Anran Ye

Anran is the sister of the recent Overwatch 2 Support hero addition, Wuyang. When Wuyang dropped, the new location of Wuxing University was revealed as part of his lore. This location is a unique school in which students go to study elemental powers. While Wuyang faced troubles in his studies and ended up on a different path to his family in the Water College, his sister Anran continues the family Fire College legacy. The two have been seen to have a little bit of a hiccup in their relationship. But ultimately, Anran saw Wuyang in a new light when he used his Water College powers (which are traditionally medicinal, not combative) to save her in battle.

Anran would honestly be such a fun addition to the roster, possibly under the DPS role. Being able to wield elemental fire as part of her kit would feel flashy and fresh to play, and there is so much opportunity to learn more about Wuxing, as apparently the elemental powers studied there are not a source of ‘magic’, but something else entirely. Plus, it would just be great to have another set of siblings on the roster, other than Hanzo and Genji. They even share slight Zuko and Azula vibes in their personalities and characteristics...just much more wholesome, and much less crazy.

Interestingly, it seems that out of all characters on the list, Anran may be the one we potentially see first. Posts created by long-time trusted Overwatch 2 source on Twitter, OWCavalry, have hinted towards voice lines related to/for Anran being leaked for the game. Specifically, there was an instance of an Echo voiceline for her own Ultimate, which copies the Ultimates of other heroes and yells out their specific voicelines. The line “scorch the sky!” certainly seems to be fitting for Anran over everyone else, which looks good for those hoping to see her soon.

D.Mon

Yuna Lee, otherwise known as D.Mon, is one of the MEKA squad members, known for being tough and protective of her team. She also has a personal connection to D.Va, having previously been on the same esports team, with their matching MEKA handles, D.Va and D.Mon reflecting this dynamic. If one more member of the squad were to join the OW2 roster, D.Mon is the perfect choice. There would be so much potential for fun voice lines with D.Va, and her mech, ‘Beast’, has a really interesting design that would fit into almost any roster role with a couple of tweaks.

Most significantly, the Beast has a sword and shield similar to those of a paladin. This hints that D.Mon and the Beast would be a great secondary Tank MEKA character addition alongside D.Va. However, as OW2 has mostly moved away from 6v6 and runs a single Tank in 5v5, this would leave a lot of missed potential for hero interactions and synergy with her friend and comrade, Hana Song. Perhaps D.Mon could be a fun surprise addition to the DPS or Support roles, as either a brawly mech healer similar to Brigitte, or a defensive DPS that converts damage taken into amplified damage dealt, somehow.

MEKA - Overlord, Casino, or King

If D.Mon ends up being added to the game, that would open up the possibility for the rest of the MEKA squad to eventually make their way to the roster, too. For many fans, this would be the dream scenario, as MEKA’s Overlord, Casino, and King have all been relatively popular characters in the lore, despite not having an overwhelming number of appearances or story beats.

With five different members in the squad, there is definitely room to have MEKA squad members across all three game roles (Tank, DPS, Support). This would mean that hypothetically, one day, fans could run a complete MEKA team comp, too, provided the split ended up being 1 Tank (D.vA), 2 DPS, and 2 Support. D.Mon, Overlord, Casino, and King all have really interesting and unique MEKA designs, too, so there would be the potential to implement all kinds of different playstyles and abilities through their kits. With MEKA, there are nearly limitless possibilities and potential, which has helped keep them at the top as some of the most popular characters from the lore.

Boomslang

With the addition of Hazard on OW2’s Tank roster, a new organization known as the ‘Phreaks’ emerged. Boomslang is one of these Phreaks and a core member of the crew that remains close to Hazard. While she hasn’t been around as long as others, Boomslang has some amazing design elements and a very cool codename (shared with a highly poisonous snake from South Africa). Not only could Boomslang fill the spot as a new South African hero addition, but there’s also potential to play with that snake concept with the rest of her kit – perhaps making her a flashy combat support or DPS that applies poisons to enemies.

In the Hazardous Tactics animated short, Boomslang is seen wielding a gun with green modifications/decals that match the body modifications seen on her legs and ankles. This further points towards the possibility of her fitting into a DPS role, utilizing unique modified weapons in her kit. With the tubing/body modifications being tinted gradient green/yellow, there’s also a possibility that Boomslang quite literally circulates some kind of venom/toxic substance through her body, and uses this to power her weapons.

Jetpack Cat - Mitzi

Jetpack Cat is one of the most iconic and popular fan-favorite character concepts in the Overwatch universe. In addition to this, the character is the result of a previously scrapped hero concept, so there’s always the potential that this could be revisited and tweaked as a future addition for OW2.

Jetpack Cat has some very wacky and endearing lore. Torbjorn and his daughter, Brigitte, are known to have quite a few cats. One cat in particular, a white fluffy critter called Mitzi, would be the chosen one, so to speak. As it turns out, young Brigitte, as she got more into her mechanical skills, started to design custom armors for Mitzi. As you can imagine, this concept resulted in the fully-fledged ‘Jetpack Cat’ idea, where Mitzi would pilot a jetpack mech with those fluffy little paws. Originally deemed ‘too crazy’ an idea even for the OW universe, there is a chance that the strong fanbase for this character could change the course of Jetpack Cat’s fate as a playable hero.

The Yokai – Ryota, Nobuto, or Sakura

Kiriko Kamori quickly became one of the most popular OW characters to date following her release. While she has interesting ties to Hanzo and Genji through her background, there’s even more unexplored potential in the Yokai. The Yokai is a gang that Kiriko founded with some friends to fight back against the Hashimoto, aiming to protect their home of Kanezaka. Not much is currently known about the Yokai right now, other than what was revealed in small lore drops for Kiriko.

This leaves so much untapped potential for the rest of the Yokai members, such as Sakura, Ryota, and Nobuto. There could be fun voicelines and banter between the group members, and it would be a fun way to bring more characters from the same ‘faction’ or organization to multiple roles. Of course, with Kiriko’s ninja skills and her mother’s history of training others, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that the group would inherit some strong ninja-like athletic skills and combat prowess as they spend an extended time as the protectors of Kanezaka. In short, there’s a lot of potential for different martial abilities or ninja tools to create new hero kits for each and every member, eventually.

Maximilien

To date, Maximilien is one of the only ‘big bad villains’ of the Overwatch universe to not currently feature on the in-game roster. Maximilien is a wealthy Omnic and member of Talon’s inner circle, and to put things bluntly, an absolute snake in the grass. Originally seen by the Overwatch as someone weak and soft who would be easy to manipulate, Maximilien not only managed to escape but also negotiated a deal with the group that involved him betraying Doomfist. Later, he would continue working with Doomfist when the latter broke out of prison – as if he had never given him up in the first place. He is a great concept for a slimy, rich, evil sort of villain, and with his deep ties to the story, he would be a welcome addition to the fanbase.

Furthermore, Maximilien also has ties with Freja, having contracted her bounty hunting skills for a hit on Emre. With this more recent info, it seems that Maximilien may be trying to track Emre down either to convert him to Talon’s side or to take him out of the picture entirely. If the latter, is he trying to pick off individuals tied to Overwatch one by one? If so, 2026 could be a really interesting year to see both Emre and Maximilien join the roster, considering how many connections they have to other characters. Plus, there’s also a lack of Omnics currently available, so he would be a nice change, considering we haven’t had an Omnic release since Ramattra at the start of OW2.

Geiger

The Junkers are a really fun group within the Overwatch universe, native to Junker Town. Many of the individuals within this location are known to be scrappers and tinkerers, designing robotic body modifications and weapons out of leftover resources. Geiger is one of the few Junkers known to exist, having taken part in the annual reckoning featured in Junker Queen’s cinematic, alongside Meri and the King.

Honestly, there is very little known about Geiger. However, he just has a really interesting design that tends to stick with viewers. During the Reckoning, Junker Queen chose not to kill Geiger, stating that she wanted him by her side when she became Queen. Well, she’s officially Junker Queen, and she’s been on the roster for a while now, so why not bring Geiger in to join her side as a loyal fighter?

Recluse

Lastly, we have Recluse, who is an unused concept from the pitch meeting of Prometheus, which later became Overwatch 1. While some may think that concepts from this far back would now be irrelevant to OW2, Hazard has proven otherwise, as his new design originates from the concept of ‘Phreak’, who was a character pitched at the same Prometheus meeting.

The design of Recluse features a woman with striking pink hair and extra mechanical, spider-like legs attached to her arms that she uses to walk around. According to her original concept, Recluse’s abilities included a mouth beam and a capability to send out spider bots – perhaps the latter would function similarly to Peni Parker’s kit in Marvel Rivals? While there’s no way to know if Recluse is a definite possibility for the future of OW hero additions, she is certainly one of the most memorable early design concepts, and one fans would be thrilled to see revived, redesigned, or reworked for OW2.