Death Stranding 2 features a character who might seem just a little familiar to any long-time Hideo Kojima fans.
Kojima returned to SXSW over the weekend and – after skipping the State of Play last month – released a ton of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach info. We got a release date of June 26, 2025 (or two days early on June 24 if you pay for one of the more expensive editions, because that’s the world we live in now), but more importantly, we got a massive 10-minute trailer for the game. However, rather than opening up on some CGI Norman Reedus butt cheeks, we had a new character, Neil, take the spotlight to open things.
Neil, who worked as a smuggler, bringing ‘braindead pregnant women’ over the Mexican border, is seen being interrogated for his crimes. He then takes a backseat for most of the trailer in favor of babies, giant goop monsters, and beautiful vistas – the usual Death Stranding stuff. However, right at the end of the trailer, we see him again, adorned in tactical gear. And then he puts on a bandana, and it’s crystal clear – it's Solid Snake; Kojima made Solid Snake again.
And as it turned out, this was foreshadowed by Kojima over four years ago. Neil is played by Italian actor Luca Marinelli, who was mentioned in an Instagram post back in July 2020. “There are many actors that I follow. Luca Marinelli recently caught my eye,” then to cap it off he said, “Also, I think if he donned a bandana, he’d be the spitting image of Solid Snake!”
We don’t know too much about the role Neil will play in Death Stranding 2’s story; however, his appearance at the end is alongside skeleton troops, much like Mads Mikkelsen’s Cliff in the original game. So there’s a chance that he’s going to appear in the past in a manner similar to Cliff.
Many fans have theorized that Death Stranding’s story revolves heavily around Kojima’s exit from Konami, and the loss of the Metal Gear series as far back as the original trailer in which Sam’s baby is taken from him. So this Solid Snake stand-in is going to add even more fuel to the fire. Not to mention the Magellan, a ship featured in the trailer, has a striking resemblance to the heads of Metal Gear mechs like Zeke and Rex.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to release at the end of June, but there’s a ton of exciting upcoming PS5 games releasing between now and then.
