Blizzard recently introduced its 39th Hero to its multiplayer shooter Overwatch 2, in the form of Mauga, a tall, thick-set Samoan tank who, players have noted, looks rather like Pixar’s portrayal of the Polynesian demigod Maui in its animated film Moana. Well, it appears there’s more of a link between the two than just a passing resemblance, as Mauga directly references Maui in his voice lines.
This was observed by gaming YouTuber Dan Bumbler, who posted a short video clip of Mauga on the website formerly known as Twitter. In the clip, Mauga utters two voice lines. The first is simply “pleasure’s all mine”, while the second is the phrase “You’re welcome”. Crucially, Mauga doesn’t just say the second line, he sings it. "Y'know, I had a suspicion, and OF COURSE MAUGA SINGS HIS "You're welcome" VOICE LINE. Blizz, u cheeky bastards," Bumbler says.
If you’ve seen Moana, then you’ll know exactly what this refers to. If you haven’t, well, when Maui first meets Moana in the film, he sings a full musical number titled “You’re welcome” during which he repeatedly utters the phrase “You’re welcome”. You can watch the full number below. It's good!
In short, the chances of this being a coincidence are as small as Mauga and Maui are large. This is interesting because Mauga’s apparent similarities to Maui have proved somewhat contentious, with some fans displeased by what might seem like a quite stereotypical portrayal of a Samoan man, while others reckon those who make such lazy comparisons are telling on themselves. The fact that Mauga now seems to be at least partly inspired by Maui further muddies the waters.
Outside of his similarities to Maui, it’s still too early to tell the impact Mauga is likely to have on Overwatch 2’s play, though his damage reduction abilities and prowess at wielding two chainguns is certainly likely to shake things up a bit. A new character is unlikely to change Overwatch 2’s ailing fortunes, however, with the game still sitting on an “Overwhelmingly Negative” overall rating on Steam.
