Battlefield 2042 story trailer brings back a BF4 favorite

Battlefield 2042 won’t feature a traditional narrative single-player campaign, but that doesn’t mean it won’t carry over storytelling elements from previous games — or that it won’t tell stories of its own. In a newly released short film titled “Exodus,” developer DICE and publisher Electronic Arts set up the story of Battlefield 2042 and confirm the return of a beloved character: Battlefield 4’s Kimble “Irish” Graves, once again played by Michael K. Williams.

The nine-minute film appears to confirm a canonical ending for 2013’s Battlefield 4: that Irish, not Huang “Hannah” Shuyi, survives the events of that game’s campaign. As such, Irish will be a playable “No-Pat” Specialist in Battlefield 2042.

“Exodus” also introduces a new character to Battlefield lore named Oz. He clashes with Irish over the future of the No-Pats — 2042’s nickname for the non-patriated soldiers who fight in the upcoming game’s global conflict. EA said in a news released that the story of Battlefield 2042 will “continue to evolve over time” and will be told through future playable specialists — not unlike how EA’s Apex Legends or Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch handle their storytelling.

Irish is the fifth confirmed specialist coming in Battlefield 2042, following Casper, Mackay, Boris, and Falck, who were revealed in June. Battlefield 2042 is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on Oct. 22.