Why Joel Morricone would be a 'good' rename

Story Discussion
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Hello people!

First of all, excuse my English, it is not my first language. I’m so sorry if you find any weird written words or phrases. My apologies! I will try my best! :muscle:

After the terrible news about the developer who name was used for our cowboy and the latest news about its re-naming, many theories and sugerences have been emergence of what this new name could be.

One of the sugerences that sounds the loudest is the name ‘Joel Morricone’ and I think it is a good idea.

Why? Let me explain…

It all starts with a blog post. :newspaper:

There is a wide and popular theory that our gunslinger is Joel Morricone, the journalist who wrote “The New Peacekeepers”, a new about the attempted robbery in Hanamura.

[OPINION] Vigilante justice—is it vital in a post-Overwatch world?

https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/573245303198912512?s=20

Now let’s see why I believe almost 90% that Joel Morricone is McCree’s alter ego, like Clark Kent is for Superman.

This journalist approves of what our cowboy does in the article and, in a certain way, he defends the mysterious peacemaker’s actions. Nothing relevant to now let’s go to how he presents himself:

By Joel Morricone // Guest Blogger, Coffee Drinker, White Hat Wearer, Pundit for Hire

  • Guest Blogger … that is, he is not from the regular staff.

  • Coffee Drinker, McCree is already known canonly to be addicted to coffee.

  • White Hat Wearer*… reference to the lone ranger? A romantic vision of how he would see himself. *https://truewestmagazine.com/great-movie-and-tv-hats/
    There are also many other famous cowboys who have worn a white hat but this is the one that most closely resembles what our cowboy represents (apart from having two skins clearly inspired by the Lone Ranger XD).

  • Pundit for Hire, since he left OW he works for himself, being a bounty hunter, a “freelance” man.

Let’s analyze the name and surname:

Joel Morricone // Jesse McCree
J.M. // J.M.

Joel

In the 1940s and 1950s there was a famous actor who devoted most of his career and his fame to western. his name was Joel McCrea:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_McCrea

Also Joel was the code name that was used during the development phase to refer to the gunslinger:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190505232239/https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/2lqf6l/gunslinger_joel/

And don’t forget the famous in-game’s interaction line between he and Sombra:

Sombra: “Pleasure working with you McCree… if that is your real name.”
McCree: “Don’t know what you heard, but my name’s not Joel. Best remember that.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh1xpl4MLK0

Morricone

And Morricone is the surname of the well-known and genius Ennio Morricone, composer of the soundtrack of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” (film where the protagonist, The Good, very possibly inspired the design of our hero).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone

McCree: “I’m not Good, not Bad, but I sure as hell ain’t Ugly.”

And speaking about Dollars Trilogy, it’s curious (as a buddy, Unamico, from our Spain’s forum pointed out) that the cowboy ends up being literally the “Man with No Name” in OW.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_No_Name

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Though I get the idea, you must not forget the name will be used to make quick calls in game.

‘McCree’s top right’ works well. ‘Morricone’ is way too long. If it’s longer than two syllables people will either not use it or shorten it. ‘Morri’ does not sound good, nor ‘Riconne’, nor ‘Cone’.

As a French speaker, Joel is difficult to pronounce and understand with an English accent (in opposition to Jesse which is really easy to articulate). If I pronounce it the French way I’m not convinced non-French players will understand who I’m talking about.

With a name like that, people will just end up saying ‘cowboy top right’ instead or keep saying McCree.

The gameplay needs to come first before the lore. In my opinion renaming him is useless but it’s another debate.

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yes, the ideal would be a name of the same phonetic length, but we must also consider that it is not a real problem to make diminutives, you always do it (brig, rein, hog, sym etc.)

it would also be nice to keep the “M” for BAMF on the belt, which according to some after the book Deadlock Rebels has a certain sense of logic a la gang Deadlock (BoB / Bez / Ashe / McCree / Frankie). the problem, however, is … which one? we might also think of nouns not including “Mc”, having a very Scottish origin.

on the name, however, I think they will feel freer in saying Joel anyway. I mean, it would still be fine to call him Clint or Adam, for what you can quote in western filmography.

it will be really curious to know the new name. (but yes, I agree that they only complicate their work, actually)

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It’s interesting, I haven’t read the book yet (I just received it today). I had no idea the belt was linked to the names.

I suppose the “best” (beside keeping the name obviously) way it could happen in lore is if Jesse McCree was an alias McCree used since his youth. Then someone like Sombra publicly discloses his real name and from now on all characters decide to use it despite what McCree wants.

It would mean nothing that happened in the past needs to change, he’s virtually still McCree but nobody ever mentions it again. It would be a problem for flashbacks though if Blizzard really want to never use the name again.

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it’s just a theory :face_with_hand_over_mouth: (and sorry for any spoilers in the names :grimacing: I hope you like the book).

it would be an optimal explanation (like “robin > nightwing”, but the problem is that to make this theory valid Bpizzard would have to use the new name only in the events after reunion, when he was still called Jesse McCree.

Esactly. If the retcon will involve parts of previous lore such as the Retribution gameplay (you can hardly replace all dialogue with the term “hello, cowboy”, “hey, young man”), the narrative break will happen anyway. the same is true if one day they want to explain to us how he lost his arm, any other future archive mission or any stories involving him in the past.

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Yes, the length is not ideal and it is not as musical as the current name. Although it is true that there are also heroes like Winston or Wrecking ball who are never called by their hero name. In the game we always call him monkey or ball (for faster calls).

Yes, I know that theory from Twitter and with Morricone the M would be kept for the belt.

Although I bring you another theory of a possible surname: Logann. The name of the character that was our cowboy’s early design.

“Logann was created by Chris Metzen in artwork for the original StarCraft. His concept of him formed the basis of a character in a pitched StarCraft MMO, said character going on to become McCree.”

https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Logann

What if his name was Joel McLogann? Sounds better.

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I had completely forgotten this name, it sounds very good, especially in place of Jesse. But in the suffix “Mc” it sounds a bit strange. Repeating “McLogann” the tongue clicks a lot and … I don’t know, it seems a bit too galloping for phonetics?

About “MC”, I found a strange americains surnames with it: https://namecensus.com/data/surnames_Mc.htm
Incredible large if choice :kissing: For now, of this list I like to image “Logann McCain” or "McLean":man_shrugging:

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Oh, interesting web. I would like the cowboy’s last name to start with M and to keep his initials J.M.

Some people are also proposing the last name of McCloud, a Prometheus / Titan character.

https://overwatch.fandom.com/wiki/McCloud

This last name sounds good although I don’t know… This character has nothing to do with the design of our gunslinger. They are completely different heroes. And even who knows if one day they will rescue this design as a new hero for OW2. The design and character are too cool to waste.

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this is because of the Scottish “Mc” origin (and the concept of a highlander). although … the union of the names “Logann McCloud” sounds particularly good.

in any case, regardless of the final name there is definitely ONE thing we should want first of all: that this update will arrive very soon. the ideal would be 1 month and a half instead of half a year away :unamused:

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They said it would be delayed until later this year, probably November (since we’ve got Malevento going live in September and Junkenstein in October).

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According to the official message, unfortunately the new cowboy’s name (and story arc) will arrive by the end of the year. I guess this takes a lot of work.

By the way, Gavin Jurgens-Fyhrie, lead narrative designer and writer at Overwatch, commented on his twitter:

While we work on this, it is VITAL that you all continue to post names like Sixshooter McHighNoon and Bilbo Bingleblatt.

While these names will likely not be selected, they are an important part of our creative process.

https://twitter.com/GavinEtc/status/1431274307041120260

So these themes that we, the community, are creating help to the OW team’s brainstorm.

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mmm, it makes me think that they are “probing” the community a bit before re-carving the name on the stone (or rather, in the code). although I kind of miss hearing the oranges in the lore section rather than from external sources.

Going back to the name, I would like to break the mental schemes that we have made about the fidelity of the “M” for a short time. several years ago, watching the movie “the mummy” (1999) I always thought about how right McCree had been as the explorer of the Egyptian tombs, and I also really liked the name of the protagonist: Rick O’Connel, a surname that sounds particularly good in my opinion. then maybe I’m completely wrong with the fantasy, but in one scene from the movie one of the explorers (before being killed by the creature) seems to be swinging his gun just like one of McCree’s standard emotes does. I don’t know if it’s a direct reference, but it has further strengthened my interest in the explorer concept. then I don’t know, maybe in a future Blizzcon we will find ourselves having a Reno Jackson crossover given the compatibility of the hat on the model.

…

oh well, and what about Jackson from the “J” point of view? Or Jason :man_shrugging:

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O’Connel sounds good too. I like it :+1:

Speaking of other suggestions away from the initials J.M inspired on film references… These days I have been reflecting on what another surname could fit him and I came up with one: Solo

Why Solo? Because Han Solo from Star Wars. And no, this is not a joke.

For those who do not know, our cowboy has a couple of references to the mythical pilot of the Millennium Falcon in the game:

https://i.imgur.com/z7UqxVF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8BWakAY.jpg

Also this surname would be a casual nod to the cowboy’s ultimate (High Noon) in spanish from Spain: “SOLO ante el peligro” (Alone in the face of danger).

https://youtu.be/jhmgClOeOig?t=13

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