Summary
Last March,Overwatch 2collaborated withOne Punch Man, releasing four legendary skins themed after characters from the popular anime. This year, Blizzard has upped the ante by partnering with none other thanCowboy Bebop, an anime remembered as one of the best of all time for its fluid animation and fascinating, futuristic world. Furthermore, there are not four, but five new skins themed after the anime’s iconic bounty hunters. What’s more is that these new skins were shown off in a practicallyone-to-one remake of the jazzyCowboy Bebopopening sequence.
This was a brilliant PR move on the part ofOverwatch 2to build hype for the March 12 release of these skins. Even players unfamiliar with the anime can appreciate the bebopping animation to the big band jazz numberTank!by Japanese band Seatbelts. In the trailer for the crossover event, characters like Cassidy and Ashe take the place of theirCowboy Bebopcounterparts in a near identical recreation of the opening. It’s nearly identical, but deviates in some key ways.
Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop Skins
Cassidy Is A Crook Once More
Almost all the characters inCowboy Bebopsmoke cigarettes, and this is shown throughout the original opening. Blizzard Entertainment has notably cut down on its characters smoking, butCassidy’s designhas always featured him chomping on a cigar. For the crossover event opening, he is the only one smoking. Any other smoke in the trailer is from a gun barrel. In bothOverwatch 2andCowboy Bebop, the characters are skilled gunslingers and fighters.
Another note on Cassidy: in order for him to embody the role ofCowboy Bebop’s protagonist Spike Spiegel, he appears to have been aged down a bit. Given that the trailer shows him collaborating with Ashe, B.O.B., Sombra, Wrecking Ball, and Mauga it might be safe to assume – if it has any place on the timeline – that this collaboration event takes place in the past, when he was still a young outlaw running with the Deadlock Gang rather than a member of Overwatch pushing forty. All the characters, save for Mauga, appear a little more youthful.
In the anime, Ed is around 13 years old and androgynous. The Sombra skin design suggests that this version of Ed is a little older and visibly more feminine.
Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop Easter Egg Voicelines
Eagle-eyed fans might notice that rather than the usual newspaper-like text scrolling in the background of the opening, it has been replaced withOverwatch-related lines. In the original opening for theCowboy Bebopanime, this text is in reference to both how the “bebop” genre of jazz came to be and about how the bounty hunters from the far off year 2071 must “create new dreams and films by breaking traditional styles.” TheOverwatch 2opening instead features text related to theDeadlock Gang, the group of outlaws that Cassidy formerly lead, but is now headed up by Ashe.
Furthermore, the production credits have been replaced with voice lines from the new skins like “Let’s get this show on the road”. This is an obvious edit that needed to be made, but there are other marked differences in theOverwatch-ified opening that speak to the audience Blizzard is aiming for.
Cowboy Bebop’s Ships Find New Life as Guns
AlthoughOverwatch 2does take place in a fictional future with space travel, it’s not a game focused around that aspect.Cowboy Bebop, on the other hand, is all about hopping around the galaxy to hunt down bounties and, in some cases, avoid other bounty hunters. Spike and Jet are the two-man team piloting the ship called theBebop, which can be seen drifting across the screen throughout the original opening.
TheOverwatch 2crossover trailer instead highlights various weapons wielded by the characters and inspired by the anime. Cassidy’s gun, for example, has a sharp, red-winged design inspired by Spike’s personal racing ship calledSwordfish 2. B.O.B. is designed to look like a humanoid version of Faye’s small craft, theRed Tail. The two giant guns thatMaugawields are reminiscent of theHammer Head, a tow craft that Jet pilots in the anime.
In the anime, Spike Spiegel briefly wore a cowboy hat like Cassidy’s in the episode “Cowboy Funk.”
So far, thisOverwatch 2collaboration impressively replicates the originalCowboy Bebopaesthetic. TheOverwatchheroes chosen to portray eachCowboy Bebopcharacter are accurate choices when it comes to both the design and the personality of the original character. Hacker extraordinaireSombrais the perfect fit for the tech wizard Ed, and big, brawny Mauga excellently embodies Jet Black. Cassidy and Spike are both futuristic fighters, while Faye and Ashe are both tough-as-nails outlaws with sass to spare. Wrecking Ball and Ein are both intellectually enhanced animals, so it makes sense for Blizzard to make an Ein Wrecking Ball skin, which will be available for free during this crossover event. Blizzard really did its homework while orchestrating this cool, cowboy crossover.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
