Who Is Kojima’s New ‘Solid Snake’ and Why Death Stranding 2 Looks Like the Closest We’ll Ever Get to Another Metal Gear Solid

Kojima Productions premiered a new, 10-minute agelong trailer for Death Stranding 2 astatine SXSW implicit the caller weekend, and portion it features immoderate acquainted faces – similar Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux, who reprise their roles from the archetypal Death Stranding – the trailer opens connected a caller face: Luca Marinelli. But Marinelli isn’t conscionable playing a caller quality successful the Death Stranding universe… He seems poised to go Kojima’s caller Solid Snake.

Who is Luca Marinelli playing successful Death Stranding 2?

Marinelli is an Italian histrion who provides the dependable and likeness of the quality Neil successful Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. While the immense bulk of Marinelli’s movie roles person been successful Italian connection productions, helium is apt champion known to English-speaking audiences arsenic the immortal mercenary Nicky from Netflix’s The Old Guard.

In the latest trailer for Death Stranding 2, Marinelli’s Neil is archetypal shown successful an interrogation room, being accused of chartless crimes by a antheral successful a suit. Neil says helium was lone doing the “dirty work” for this suited antheral and seems to beryllium trying to extremity the moving statement helium has with them. The antheral angrily responds that Neil “has nary choice” but to support moving for him.

The country past jumps to Neil talking to a Bridges worker named Lucy (played by Marinelli’s real-life wife, histrion Alissa Jung). This speech hints astatine the pair’s romanticist relationship, and besides reveals that the occupation Neil is doing for the suited antheral is smuggling cargo — brain-dead large women, to beryllium precise.

Wait, brain-dead large women?

One of the astir iconic images from the archetypal Death Stranding is Norman Reedus’ Sam Porter Bridges with a glowing orangish flask containing a babe strapped to his chest. The babe helium carries is simply a Bridge Baby, oregon BB; a seven-month fetus removed via c-section from a brain-dead mother. Such a script creates a limbo authorities betwixt beingness and death, which successful crook allows BBs to pass with the satellite of the dead. BBs tin past assistance their big carriers observe Beached Things, oregon BTs, which are malevolent souls trapped successful the satellite of the surviving that origin Voidouts.

Okay, breathe, we’re astir done. Prior to the events of the archetypal game, the US Government was experimenting with BBs to explicate the Voidouts, ample destructive events caused by BTs that tin level full cities akin to a atomic bomb. However, the survey was discontinued aft a BB experimentation created a Voidout successful Manhattan, destroying the metropolis and sidesplitting the US President. Except the experiments connected BBs did continue, successful secret, hence wherefore Neil is smuggling successful the brain-dead large women. He’s presumably doing this for the United States authorities truthful that it tin proceed its amerciable research.

Is Solid Snake successful Death Stranding 2?

Image credit: Kojima Productions

The caller SXSW Death Stranding 2 trailer ends with a changeable of Marinelli’s Neil tying a bandana astir his forehead. In that infinitesimal helium undeniably looks precise overmuch similar Solid Snake – the much-loved protagonist of Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid series.

So does this mean that Solid Snake is successful Death Stranding 2? Not rather – but the ocular similarity betwixt Neil and Snake is surely intentional. To recognize the transportation betwixt the 2 characters you request to spell backmost to 2020, erstwhile Hideo Kojima posted an excerpt from an interrogation helium took portion successful connected his authoritative Instagram.

One of the questions asked was “Which creators and actors presently person your attention?” To this Kojima responded, “There are galore actors that I follow. Luca Marinelli precocious caught my oculus aft watching “The Old Guard” and “Martin Eden.”

“I deliberation if helium donned a bandana, he’d beryllium a spitting representation of Solid Snake!” Kojima added.

Fast-forward to SXSW, and we present person footage of Marinelli donning a bandana and looking similar the spitting representation of Solid Snake. To beryllium clear, Neil is not (as acold arsenic we understand) Solid Snake – the universes of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding are separate. However, it’s undeniable that Kojima is referencing his astir celebrated creation.

How Death Stranding 2 connects to Metal Gear Solid

Neil and his undead troops. Image credit: Kojima Productions

Neil’s Snake cosplay isn’t conscionable a cheeky homage and easter ovum for Kojima fans, however. The caller trailer is intentionally evoking Metal Gear astatine each opportunity. To proceed pulling connected the Neil thread, the trailer makes it wide that Neil becomes Beached astatine immoderate point. His psyche is stranded successful the surviving world, overmuch similar what happened to Cliff Unger (Mads Mikkelsen) successful the archetypal game.

Like Unger, Neil’s Beached signifier takes connected the guise of a worker accompanied by a platoon of undead warriors. During this uncover successful the trailer, a narrator talks astir the re-emergence of the United States’ weapon civilization connected the “new continent.”

It harkens backmost to 1 of the biggest themes Kojima explored passim the Metal Gear series: the proliferation of weapons, peculiarly atomic missiles, and however arms destabilize humanity. This has been a cardinal taxable crossed overmuch of Kojima’s enactment passim the years, with astir each Metal Gear crippled being astir stopping atomic limb proliferation. The irony is that Snake indispensable sometimes usage weapons to halt atomic war, but adjacent this is shown to person a corrosive effect connected some his and Big Boss’ soul. This anti-armaments stance is astir apt wherefore determination are respective Metal Gear games wherever non-lethal playthroughs are possible.

While the thematic parallels are wide to see, determination whitethorn besides beryllium thing of an creator doctrine connection, too. Neil could beryllium a “version” of Solid Snake done metaphysics. Beached Things are deceased souls tethered to the satellite of the living, and what is Snake if not dormant (at slightest successful the creator consciousness – Metal Gear arsenic a franchise seems over, remasters and remakes notwithstanding.) Perhaps Neil is Kojima’s mode of saying the psyche of Snake is trapped successful the satellite of Death Stranding, hence wherefore Neil’s look concisely flashes into a skull during the trailer.

A Metal Gear-like carnal successful Death Stranding 2. Image credit: Kojima Production

Outside of Neil, the trailer features a 2nd large notation to Metal Gear erstwhile Heartman seems to harvester the ship, DHV Magellan, with a colossal BT to signifier a humanoid bio-robotic giant, not dissimilar the Sahalanthropus from Metal Gear Solid 5. While the Metal Gear machines from the MGS bid are often utilized to motorboat atomic weapons, the Magellan is, successful a way, besides lodging nukes if the BT it combines with tin besides origin Voidouts.

Speaking of MGS 5, the past clip Kojima released a trailer arsenic cinematic (and arsenic long) arsenic the newest Death Stranding 2 preview was the 10-minute agelong Red Band trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5. Both are epic successful scope, presenting the characters arsenic if they were movie stars, and combining gameplay and cutscenes into one, heroic showcase for Kojima’s newest game.

Will determination beryllium different Kojima Metal Gear Solid game?

By present it is beauteous wide that we volition ne'er get different Metal Gear Solid crippled from Hideo Kojima. He was forced to permission the franchise down aft his departure from Konami, and truthful immoderate MGS crippled going guardant – specified arsenic the upcoming remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 – volition beryllium produced without his involvement.

Despite this, it’s wide that the imagery and themes of the bid are inactive burned successful Kojima’s imagination. With Death Stranding 2, Kojima mightiness not beryllium making a crippled similar Metal Gear Solid, but he’s intelligibly taking inspiration from his ain bid to make a caller section for Death Stranding.

The trailer for the sequel makes it wide that Kojima’s ambitions for Death Stranding 2 are adjacent bigger than they were for the archetypal game, with much divers environments (like rainforests and oceans) and seemingly a greater accent connected combat. Combined with the visuals, themes, and caller gameplay, Death Stranding 2 looks person than ever to being a caller Metal Gear Solid game, adjacent if it doesn’t stock the aforesaid name.

Matt Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor.