A new teaser trailer seemingly confirms that rumor that John Rambo will be coming to Call of Duty as a playable character. The hugely popular first-person shooter series has seen new annual releases almost every year since the franchise’s debut in 2003. John Rambo is the protagonist of the iconic Rambo series of action films, which began with First Blood in 1982 with star Sylvester Stallone in the titular role.
The official Call of Duty Twitter account recently posted several tweets which have jumpstarted rumors that John Rambo will be added to the series’ most recent installments Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The first suggestive tweet revealed several stats for a highly skilled Call of Duty player who apparently managed to score 552 kills in only 7 hours of play. However, fans soon discovered that these stats, and the player’s username SURVIVORJOHN#1009062, all relate to the on-screen feats of Stallone’s iconic character. Subsequent tweets from the Call of Duty Twitter page went even further, suggesting that Die Hard‘s John McClane and the Terminator may also be coming to the first-person shooter series.
On Monday, the Call of Duty Twitter account then posted a short teaser video that seems to all but confirm that John Rambo will soon join Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War in all his guerrilla glory. The short teaser shows a hapless soldier frantically running through the jungle as Rambo observes from stealth. The iconic Stallone character then draws his iconic bow, with the arrowhead naturally replaced by an explosive device, and fires on his victim. The video ends by instructing viewers to “become war,” proclaiming that the action will begin – presumably when Rambo arrives as a skin or full-blown operator on May 20.
The arrival of 80s action hero Rambo in Call of Duty is quite appropriate, considering current events in Call of Duty: Warzone. The free-to-play battle royale installment in the series recently entered its third season, and this seasonal transition has led to big changes in the game. Warzone‘s playable map of Verdansk was destroyed by a nuclear explosion at the end of Season 2, leading to the old map being replaced by a version of the map set in 1984. This brand new setting has apparently led the game’s developers to bring in popular figures from that era’s cinema, with John Rambo being the first logical choice.
The inclusion of Rambo in Call of Duty: Warzone is probably unexpected for many players. However, the game’s new 1980s setting is a perfect excuse to bring in some intense action icons from the era, and there is no better example than Rambo. Stallone’s presence in other games, most notably Mortal Kombat 11, also makes his arrival in Call of Duty a surprising but not unprecedented occurrence.
Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops Cold War are available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.