After the release of Call of Duty 3, the latest in a series of popular World War II shooters, Activision started to notice that there was only so much that could be done with one time period. So for the next title, developers Infinity Ward came up with 2008's Call of Duty Modern Warfare. The game was a smash hit. Fans loved the change so much it got two sequels and set a precedent for future Call of Duty games. Even today, many fans will identify at least one of the Modern Warfare games as the best in the series, if not the whole trilogy.
Over a decade later, Activision and Infinity Ward decided to revisit their well-loved series with the 2018 reboot also titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. This one made some notable changes, but it still brought back popular characters. Captain Price, a fan-favorite of the original, is a central character, while protagonist Kyle Garrick turns out to be the new iteration of Gaz. There are also appearances by supporting characters like Price's friend Nikolai and marine Sergeant Griggs. The game was a huge hit, and there is talk of a sequel in the works. There are still many popular characters from the original game who have not appeared yet, but might find their way into a follow-up.
5 Captain MacMillan
In the original Modern Warfare, there is a brief stretch where the player controls Captain Price in a flashback and meets his mentor, Captain MacMillan. This takes place during the levels "All Ghillied Up" and "One Shot, One Kill," in which the two of them navigate the Chernobyl Exclusion zone on a mission to assassinate the arms dealer Imran Zakhaev. MacMillan's only appearance after that was a cameo in Modern Warfare 3, when Price contacts him for intelligence on Makorov. He was never even given a first name, or an actual face — yet he proved surprisingly popular with fans.
Captain Price himself is already a central part of the reboot, so it would make sense for MacMillan to be incorporated into his backstory, though whether he will have a significant role is another question. It is possible he may be limited to flashbacks, but the developers could conceivably find a way to give him a bigger part.
4 "Soap" MacTavish
Soap was the main character in the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a newly-recruited member of the SAS who serves under Captain Price. The two develop a close friendship over the course of the game, with Price acting as a mentor. He was originally a silent featureless protagonist, but returned as an NPC for the sequels. Whether this was the best choice is a matter of debate, but the character did resonate with fans. His death in Modern Warfare 3 ended up being a huge blow for many players, so it was hardly surprising that he should find some way into the reboot.
Soap doesn't actually appear during the campaign, but he is explicitly identified by name as an operator Price wants for Task 141. He also makes a voiceover cameo in the special ops mode and was made available for Warzone, details that strongly suggest plans for him to make a reappearance. There might be some changes to his characterization, though. Price explicitly requests Soap implying they have worked together before — unlike in the original game, where he was a rookie fresh out of selection.
3 Vladimir Makarov
At the end of the first Modern Warfare, the player is apparently victorious when they manage to barely stop Imran Zakhaev. Unfortunately, Zakhaev's death leaves room for one of his subordinates, Vladimir Makarov, to take over. Makarov quickly proved to be a dangerous terrorist with no ethical bounds. His first major operation involved indiscriminately firing on civilians in a Russian airport, then blaming it on the United States. He went on to perform a variety of other terrorist attacks, among other crimes, and evaded multiple counter-terrorist units in his campaign of violence. The man is well-known among Call of Duty fans for his ruthlessness.
While the reboot focuses on new antagonists (specifically Al-Quetala and General Barkov) it does bring back some old ones at the end. Imran Zakhaev and Khaled Al-Asad are both hinted at in the game's ending and return for special ops mode. If those two are back, it only seems logical that Makarov will find a way to make an appearance. The reboot has a slight advantage, though. In the original games, Makarov seemed to come out of nowhere, having not appeared in the original Modern Warfare but later being incorporated into its events. The reboot has a bit more room to set up his character and his involvement with Zakhaev before he becomes the dangerous radical fans know and love.
2 Captain Pelayo
Prior to Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty had a noticeable problem with gender representation; many of the campaigns were reluctant to depict female soldiers. So when a female character did make an appearance in any of the games, she tended to stand out. That was the case with one chopper pilot in the original Modern Warfare, referred to as "Pelayo" or by the call sign "Deadly." She was a member of the U.S. marine unit dispatched to capture Al-Asad, and provides air support during the level "Shock and Awe." Eventually, her chopper is shot down by an OpFor soldier, but she survives the crash and manages to hold herself together long enough for Sgt. Paul Jackson to pull her out. Of course, the rescue attempt ends up being pointless as a nuclear warhead goes off a few minutes later, killing them both.
Pelayo did not get many opportunities to show her skills in the original game, but from what was shown, she is quite capable of handling herself. Aside from being a capable pilot, she also manages to hold off an encroaching force of OpFor soldiers with only an MP5, while her leg is broken. In the remastered version she even continues to offer covering fire after getting rescued despite her injuries. The reboot made a point of showing that it was more open to depicting women in combat, with both Kate and Farah being major characters. So why not take the opportunity to expand on this, and give a more active role to one of the few women to play a part in the original games?
1 General Shepherd
Modern Warfare 2's campaign featured an elaborate conspiracy that turned out to be centered around one American general, a man named Shepherd. He first appears acting as a mentor to Corporal Joseph Allen, until Allen is killed. Then he shows up again, orchestrating the manhunt for the terrorist Vladimir Makorov. It later turns out, though, that he has actually been deliberately engineering a war between the United States and Russia. He probably even set up Allen to get killed and used as a scapegoat for the Russians to justify war with America. Although his motives could have been more clearly explained, the twist shook many players, especially since it comes in the form of Shepard murdering the player as a "loose end."
Shepherd is actually mentioned by name in the Modern Warfare reboot, during the post-credits discussion between Captain Price and Kate Laswell. This alone seems to suggest he will have a hand in the next game. The theme of a traitorous American general manipulating a war for his own gain would fit with the reboot's atmosphere of moral ambiguity. The big question is how he will fit into the overarching story. Is he going to be an antagonist like in the original? Fans might be expecting it already, so there would not be much point in a twist. But one advantage to the reboot is that it will have more room to better develop Shepherd's motivations and goals, as well as going into more detail about Shadow Company, his mysterious personal task force seen only at the end of Modern Warfare 2.