Highlights
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has the opportunity to create iconic campaign sequences that rival those of the original games.
- General Shepherd's role in the new Modern Warfare trilogy is more muted compared to his original involvement, but there is potential for a narrative twist involving him in MW3.
- The potential introduction of Philip Graves as a vengeance-driven figure could lead to a tentative alliance between Task Force 141 and Shepherd in a fight against Makarov and Graves, providing a departure from the original role of Shepherd.
A lot of attention is already being placed on the narrative of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with that being where most of the revealed information for the title is focused. Now, as a trilogy-capping finale for the franchise's reboot, many are expecting the upcoming release to portray some of the most iconic campaign sequences of the original games.
Great attention has already been given to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's campaign antagonists, with General Shepherd, Graves, and Makarov acting as a deadly trifecta of villains. With this in mind, MW3 may have the perfect opportunity to take an antagonist twist from the original Modern Warfare 2 and turn it on its head.
Modern Warfare 2's General Shepherd Twist
One of the most memorable moments from the entire original Modern Warfare trilogy was the General Shepherd twist in MW2. Originally introduced as a powerful ally, General Shepherd famously betrayed the members of Task Force 141 in the aptly-named mission "Loose Ends".
This betrayal saw Shepherd kill both Roach and Ghost, two of the most beloved characters of Modern Warfare 2, hence the raw memorability of the moment. Shepherd's betrayal smartly set the figure up to be a hated antagonist of Modern Warfare 2's end-game, with the trilogy reboot aiming to capture this same emotion behind the motivations of its characters.
A reboot recreation of this moment has already been approached by 2022's Modern Warfare 2 to some extent, although there is still room for some serious twists in the upcoming Modern Warfare 3. In particular, the role of Shepherd seems in dire need of an injection of excitement and purpose, and this could be handled differently by MW3 to give the reboot an even greater sense of original identity.
Modern Warfare 3: A Twist With General Shepherd
It is clear that General Shepherd is taking a much more muted role in the new Modern Warfare trilogy compared to his original involvement. Although still being a calculating man of stringent ideals, Shepherd is very much in the background as opposed to how on the ground he was in his first Modern Warfare appearances.
Despite this, the recent Modern Warfare 2 portrayed a similar Shepherd-led betrayal to what 2009's MW2 originally gave fans. The betrayal comes from Shepherd wanting to cover his own tracks during global conflict, yet the character of Graves is the main mouthpiece of the betrayal.
This leaves room for Shepherd to have a final narrative twist in the upcoming Modern Warfare 3, especially with the introduction of Makarov in the title. It is a big ask for Modern Warfare 3 to juggle three antagonists in Shepherd, Graves, and Makarov, and so a clear opportunity is present to twist the expectations of fans.
Philip Graves was introduced in Modern Warfare 2 as a proficient mercenary driven purely by profit, although his near-death at the hands of Soap will likely have turned his motivations to vengeance above all else. This makes Graves a much more imposing and unpredictable figure for Modern Warfare 3, who may work with the likes of Makarov knowing the full consequence of what this may mean. With Shepherd having to play more by the book and acting out of self-preservation, MW3 could see Task Force 141 make a tentative alliance with Shepherd in a fight against a joined Makarov-Graves offensive.
This would be a complete narrative departure from the original role of Shepherd in Modern Warfare, and one that would be as intriguing as it is bittersweet to long-term fans. It remains unclear how Modern Warfare 3 will handle its antagonists, yet the motives of General Shepherd hold the most utility in providing a sensible yet memorable twist from the source material of the reboot.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on November 10.