Cold War Era Soldier in Call Of Duty Black Ops 2

Is Black Ops 2 Still Canon to Call of Duty?

There’s no denying that Black Ops 2 is a favorite among the Call Of Duty community. However, fans have debated whether this beloved entry is still canon to the series’ continuity. Thankfully, a new Black Ops 6 teaser in Warzone has answered the question.

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Is Black Ops 2 Still Canon to Call of Duty?

Harper from Call Of Duty Black Ops 2

Since 2019, Call Of Duty has been following a new, single continuity. Before this time, the franchise had a sort of multiverse. In the classic days of CoD, the original Modern Warfare trilogy and the Black Ops saga existed separately. However, the ending of the Zombies “Aether” Storyline ended this multiverse, giving birth to a new, singular universe.

This new universe consists of the rebooted Modern Warfare games, the original Black Ops and its direct sequel, Cold War, and the Call Of Duty titles set in World War II. Despite all these different games being created by several studios, the timeline fit together fairly well. That is until the year 2025. Black Ops 2 depicts two eras, one of which is a fictionalized near future. When the title released in 2012, Treyarch had to predict a plausible future. However, many of the events in the game could not happen in real life since much of the technology seen in the game doesn’t exist. As such, fans debated whether or not this title could be canon. Now, we know it is.

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Black Ops 6 Teaser Confirms Black Ops 2 Is Canon

Frank Woods in a Wheelchair in a Black Ops 6 Teaser in Call Of Duty Warzone

In early June, an update was released for Warzone with teasers for Black Ops 6. One of them has the Battle Royale’s intro hijacked by Frank Woods. In this teaser, he appears in a wheelchair to let players know about a new mission.

For context, Woods sustained a brutal injury at the hands of Raul Menendez in a Black Ops 2 mission called “Suffer With Me.” This mission takes place in 1989 and leaves Woods permanently unable to walk. Despite CoD characters’ ability to heal from serious injuries in recent years (looking at you, Graves), Woods has stayed injured from the shotgun shells he took point-blank to the knee. This confirms that, at the very least, the past sections of Black Ops 2 are canon.

Fans can look forward to more Call of Duty intel at the Xbox Games Showcase, immediately followed by a Black Ops 6 Direct on June 9.


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Haiden Lovely
Haiden is a Contributor at The Escapist who has been writing about games since 2023. They love a good live-service shooter, especially Call of Duty: Zombies and have a complicated relationship with Madden Ultimate Team. Haiden brings experience in writing about games and entertainment, video production and podcast hosting from Strangely Awesome Games.