Call of Duty first featured its now classic Zombies mode in Call of Duty: World at War, and it’s remained a core component of Treyarch’s game ever since. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 seems to be following suit, as recent COD leaks about Zombies have given fans some hints about where the game might go. Thanks to the hype the Zombies mode generates with every Call of Duty release, it's as important as ever to see how the series innovates next.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be the latest installment in this series, set to be revealed on June 9, 2024. The game has a big legacy to uphold, and after laid-back zombie installments like that of Call of Duty: Vanguard, many are hoping for Call of Duty Zombies’ return to form. Recent leaks could indicate just that, as a beloved character could be making a return to the Zombie mode.

call of duty black ops 6 key art with xbox game pass logo
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Implications of the Black Ops 6 Zombies Leak

Recent leaks of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 showed Frank Woods, a beloved character first introduced in the original Black Ops, reanimated as a zombie. This could indicate a lot of things, ranging from a drastic shift in the Dark Aether story to a new range of Operator skins. Operators are more commonly found in the multiplayer components and Warzone, but Cold War incorporated them into Zombies. A zombie version of Frank Woods, therefore, could mean he’ll be available as an Operator, acting as little more than a custom skin while players explore the new game mode.

However, the far more exciting possibility is a canon Zombie Frank Woods, who could be part of the Dark Aether storyline moving forward. Overlapping characters like Grigori Weaver have tied the main COD story to the Dark Aether for years, but, if Frank Woods is truly a zombie in Black Ops 6, the Zombies story could be going down a radically new path. This theoretical storyline may open the door to even more drastic changes. This includes bringing back more popular characters like Mason and Reznov, or reimagining entire campaigns from previous games but adding zombies into the mix.

How A Main Crew/Character Can Improve The Call of Duty Zombies Storyline

Since the earliest days of the Aether storyline, the four main characters of the mode — Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen — have formed the throughline across several games. After Operators were introduced in the Cold War, the mode lost this plot detail, which made the whole story feel inconsistent and alien. If Black Ops 6 brings back characters like Woods or forms a crew, these characters could be used to provide more backstory and details about each map and improve the overall gameplay with funny interactions, quips, and minor Easter eggs, as prior games in the series have done. So even if the Frank Woods leak ends up being something as minor as a skin, it’s still meaningful.

The Campaign and Dark Aether Storyline Could Be Separated to Pave the Way for Zombie Woods

The overarching narrative of the Dark Aether has been linked to every recent Zombies installment since Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 could change this by separating the campaign and the Dark Aether storyline again. Doing this will pave the way for separate canons, which could lead the series to countless possibilities — including adding Zombie Frank Woods as a focal point of the story.

A separate campaign and Zombies story could mean that Black Ops 6 wouldn’t need to remain grounded, and could go all-out for its story, leading to spectacles like Revelations from Black Ops 3 or Origins from Black Ops 2. With the potential to reimagine existing characters, and add incredible locations, separating the campaign and the Dark Aether seems like the way to go -- but for now, the Frank Woods leak needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

Another leak from a potential Vault Edition of Black Ops 6 indicates that the game could be bringing back Black Ops 3 ’s infamous Gobblegums too. The potential return of Gobblegums and the possible inclusion of Zombie Woods could provide players with new, fun, wacky ways to engage with the character and the game.