While Death Stranding already teased the antagonist's return. The sequel, which was announced under the working title Death Stranding 2, will bring back pillars of the first game's star-studded cast like Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux. Troy Baker is also set to return as Higgs Monaghan, with his reappearance previously teased in a bizarre Death Stranding mission chain.
Fitting with director Hideo Kojima's love for films and pop culture, every actor in Death Stranding 2 revealed so far is an entertainment juggernaut. Returning performers Norman Reedus and Lea Seydoux will be ed by newcomers Elle Fanning and Shioli Kutsuna, but the return of Troy Baker may surprise some fans. The veteran voice actor portrayed villain Higgs Monaghan, a terrorist who tries to prevent players from reconnecting America, in the first game. The antagonist is eventually defeated by the heroic Sam Bridges in a boss fight, leaving the villain with the choice of either committing suicide or being trapped on an otherwordly Beach forever.
Death Stranding Features Pizza Deliveries For Higgs
While Death Stranding strongly implies that Higgs Monaghan kills himself rather than being trapped on the Beach, it's confirmed in the Death Stranding 2 trailer that Troy Baker will return as the villain in the sequel. However, this reappearance was actually already teased by a series of pizza delivery side missions that players can accept throughout the first game. These deliveries, which become increasingly long and complex, are requested by an adoring fan named Peter Englert. However, completing Chapter 10 and the Higgs boss fight will let players access Englert's underground bunker and discover his true identity as Higgs Monaghan himself.
Higgs Returns In The Death Stranding 2 Trailer
Death Stranding's pizza delivery missions may seem silly, but they wind up teasing the return of Sam Bridges' greatest rival. The final email from Peter Englert, which also unlocks his bunker, is only sent after Higgs is defeated on the Beach. This either means that Death Stranding's villain set up mail to automatically send to Sam after his death, or he managed to escape the Beach and taunt his rival one final time. Considering Troy Baker is confirmed to return as Higgs in Death Stranding 2, it seems likely that he actually managed to survive being brutally beaten down by Sam in the classic Kojima boss fight.
While Higgs Monaghan is defeated through a suitably climactic boss fight in Death Stranding, the influential leader of Homo Demens is set to return in the sequel. This may be a surprise to some, but completing pizza deliveries and discovering Peter Englert's true identity in the first game makes Higgs' return less shocking. Troy Baker's villainous role in Death Stranding was incredibly memorable, and now Death Stranding 2 will bring the iconic actor back for more evil gloating and possibly more pizza deliveries.
Source: PlayStation/YouTube