Overwatch 2: Invasion Reveals John Cena as "The Enigma"

Overwatch 2: Invasion is just under a week away now, and to help hype up the release that's been dubbed the largest Overwatch 2 update to date, Blizzard has enlisted the help of none other than John Cena, the pro wrestling superstar and Peacemaker himself. In a video shared on Friday, Blizzard revealed Cena to be the mysterious Overwatch 2 figure known so far only as "The Enigma," a character who's appeared periodically in Invasion teases leading up to the update's release. 

John Cena's role in Friday's reveal was to help show off the new Invasion trailer for the update's PvE missions, the kind of content that players have been waiting for since Overwatch 2 first released as a PvP game with promises of PvE content to come later on down the line. PvE content plans took a turn when Blizzard announced adjusted plans for rolling out those kinds of releases, but the story missions trailer released today at least will finally give players a preview of what that initial PvE content will look like.

While seeing John Cena involved in Overwatch 2 capacity is probably a big surprise to many, Blizzard did leave some crumbs for players to follow that gave hints at the celebrity's involvement with the Invasion promotion. Different Overwatch 2 streamers' livestreams were "hacked" by The Enigma recently, and through clever deductions of teasers hidden in fonts, color codes, and other clues, all signs started to point to John Cena. Of course, things became a bit more obvious when John Cena himself shared a photo on Instagram of an Overwatch 2 stream from the game's Twitch account, so players were pretty confident in their guesses after that.

"It's been fun seeing the Overwatch community try to put a face to The Enigma," John Cena said in a press release regarding his involvement with Overwatch 2: Invasion. "Sometimes a face you can't see is just what the world needs to sound the alarm of a looming, worldwide threat."

While Overwatch 2 has gotten big collabs already like the One-Punch Man crossover, it's not looking right now like this will be the same type of deal, so players shouldn't expect any John Cena skins or the like in-game, for now. Blizzard did say that players will be seeing "more of John Cena" as his Enigma character during the remaining buildup to the update's August 10th release date, however.

The PvE missions are only part of the Invasion update with another co-op mission, a new support hero, and the Flashpoint game mode all planned for the same update. Blizzard acknowledged recently that engagement with Overwatch 2 had been on the decline, though the Invasion update is hoped to turn that around.