Following a demo of Gears of War 4's co-op campaign, Microsoft unveils a brief teaser that confirms the return of fan favorite character Marcus Fenix.

As was expected by the Xbox faithful leading up to Microsoft's E3 2016 press conference, the company revealed plenty of new information on Gears of War 4 during the show. This info included the confirmation that the franchise's former main protagonist, Marcus Fenix, will be returning for the new game.

Following the main Gears of War 4 presentation was a short teaser, revealing a much older Marcus Fenix sitting in a chair. In the trailer, Fenix looks directly at the camera and says, "Welcome home, James," indicating that players will see a reunion between Gears 4 protagonist JD Fenix and his father Marcus at some point in the story.

Even though a previous Gears of War 4 trailer showed Marcus, that trailer also had JD as a child, meaning that it wasn't necessarily indicative of what to expect from the campaign. However, this tease makes it unmistakable that Marcus Fenix will have a presence in Gears of War 4, which should please veterans of the franchise.

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Something interesting about Marcus's appearance in the teaser is that he appears to be alone. We already know that Marcus and JD have a strained relationship leading into the events of Gears 4, so perhaps part of that rift came about due to the death of JD's mother, Anya Stroud. Alternatively, maybe Anya and Marcus divorced each other prior to the events of Gears of War 4, and that event played a role in Marcus and JD growing apart.

While the E3 2016 gameplay demo for Gears of War 4 revealed a lot about the campaign and the motivations of the main characters, don't expect The Coalition to go into more details regarding JD and Marcus. In fact, it would be surprising if more of Marcus was shown at all leading up to the game's October release date, as the mystery of his role in the game could be one of the more important plot developments in the story.

Overall, the return of fan favorite characters like Marcus Fenix should help Gears of War 4 feel like the genuine next entry in the franchise. Series fans are probably champing at the bit to learn more about Marcus and what impact he will have on the game's story, and with Gears of War 4 set to be available on both Xbox One and PC before the year is out, at least they won't have to wait too long.

Gears of War 4 will be available on October 11th for Xbox One and PC.