A few days ago, "Overwatch" game director Jeff Kaplan brought the Doomfist Hype Train to a screeching halt with just one simple sentence: "24 is not who you think it is." For the past month or so, players were convinced Overwatch's new hero would be Doomfist. Datamined files, new menu music in the PTR, and actor Terry Crews himself all seemed to be leading up to Doomfist's imminent reveal.

According to Kaplan, though, this is simply not the case. But despite the obvious glass-shattering moment his statement brought about, the theories haven't died down. After a marked lull in Doomfist chatter, speculations have come back full force. The latest focus is on Athena, Winston's AI and the game's official announcer, as "Overwatch" Hero Number 24.

Dispelling Doomfist Rumors

Despite Doomfist rumors running rampant over the past month or so, Blizzard Entertainment never openly confirmed nor denied the hype. They remained tight-lipped on specifics, content to let fans do the guesswork.

The first real statement players have received regarding Doomfist's arrival in the game came in the form of a simple comment from Jeff Kaplan on the official forums. In response to a fan's question about the "Overwatch" heroes they were working on, Kaplan said-as mentioned earlier-"24 is not who you think it is."

And Kaplan definitely knows who fans thought it was. Unless he's outright trolling the "Overwatch" community (and we certainly hope he isn't), Doomfist won't be gracing our screens as a playable character any time soon.

The Case for Athena

First and foremost, it's highly likely we've already seen Athena's physical body. According to iTech Post, one of the game's official group shots features an Omnic standing in the middle, bearing Athena's iconic "A" on her forehead. Incidentally, the Omnic is also positioned directly behind Winston. It could be purely coincidental, or it could be foreshadowing.

In fact, according to Segment Next, "Overwatch" game designer Michael Chu may already have been hinting at her back in 2016. He talked about Athena becoming "a playable character in the game," stating that they've always wanted to the announcer to be a character, and not just "the random voice of god.

Another possibility, though a bit far-fetched, comes from Fenix Bazaar. It seems that an IMDB posting of actor Alex Malaos lists him as the voice for an "Overwatch" character named "Greek." As there isn't currently any "Overwatch" character by that name, the closest guess is that it's some sort of code for Athena, who's named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and war.

While certainly not as loud as the Doomfist hype, fans are still notably excited to have Athena as the next "Overwatch" hero. Certainly getting to play as an Omnic would be interesting, but there are further speculations of Athena's potential as a "god program" and what that would mean, gameplay-wise.