Update: Red Dead Redemption 2 has now been officially confirmed, with the silhouetted characters featured in the teaser image now being granted a little more color. It now appears that the central character in this image isn’t John Marston, though the character standing third from right still appears to be Bill Williamson, as we previously outlined in this article. John Marston could be the figure standing on the far left:
Original Story: John Marston could make a re-appearance in Red Dead Redemption 2, if a new teaser image posted online by Rockstar is anything to go by.
Marston’s story came to a gruesome end during the penultimate mission in Red Dead Redemption, with him being gunned down in his own barn by crooked government agents. From that point on players assumed the role of his embittered, orphaned son Jack Marston, who didn’t exactly go over well with those who had came to form a connection with John through the events of the game.
However, the latest teaser image for a potential Red Dead Redemption sequel appears to feature the silhouette of John Marston, suggesting that the game could be a prequel in which players assume the role of the outlaw while he’s still a part of his former gang. Marston’s time in this gang is referenced throughout RDR, with him having joined it after being orphaned as a teenager following his father’s death. Marston eventually broke free of the gang, after being shot and left to die by the other members following a failed robbery.
The below image is currently displayed on the Rockstar site, featuring the silhouettes of a gang of cowboys standing in front of a sunrise:
The figure standing in the middle of this gang shares a resemblance with Marston, which becomes more apparent when viewed side-by-side, as in the image below:
However, an even bigger hint that the Red Dead Redemption follow-up will be a prequel can be found in the new teaser image. The man standing third from the right in the image is depicted wearing a unique Stetson, which is identical to the shape of the cowboy hat worn by Bill Williamson. Williamson was also a member of the outlaw gang, and dies in Red Dead Redemption after setting up his own gang in Fort Mercer.
Though Rockstar has yet to confirm the existence of the game, it’s looking increasingly likely that the company will announce it sooner rather than later, and these clues suggest that it will see the return of a few familiar faces from the first game. Although it would be interesting to see the RDR sequel tackling the fall-out of its predecessor and the downfall of the Wild West, we’d be very happy to assume the role of a younger, fresher faced and more morally ambiguous John Marston nonetheless.
