Overwatch 2’s new Junker Queen animated short reveals her origin story

A few days following the revealing Overwatch 2’s newest hero, the long-awaited Junker Queen, Blizzard Entertainment rolled out a new animated short for the character — the first in more than three years. (The last was the Ashe, Cassidy, and Echo-starring “Reunion” short from November 2018.)

Junker Queen’s animated short, “The Wastelander,” details how Odessa “Dez” Stone claimed the throne of Junkertown and who she had to dispose of to establish her rule. This animated story also provides a hint at the history of Odessa Stone’s family, who were forced to flee Junkertown in her youth. It’s not a particularly dark story, despite that — Junker Queen is clearly having fun mixing it up in the Scrapyard with brand-new characters Geiger and Meri, and even though she’s here for revenge, she doesn’t straight-up murder Mason Howl, the Junker King, to secure her crown.

“The Wastelander” offers a cinematic peek at Junker Queen’s kit, including her magnetic throwing knife, her hefty ax, and her makeshift shotgun, as well as her ultimate ability. Her animated appearance is slightly different to her real-life avatar. To top it off, Blizzard’s new animated short ends with a very catchy punk rock tune about Junkertown’s reigning boss.

You can also find the song in an origin story video with Junker Queen that you can see below.

Junker Queen will now be available for play Overwatch 2’s forthcoming beta, and when the game launches as a free-to-play title on Oct. 4. Overwatch 2It will be available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 as well as Windows PCs, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.