I’m excited about the Metro 2039 announcement, and im very curious about the identity of the protagonist.
Its not Artyom, it’d be weird to obscure that if it was.
It’s an exile Spartan, it seems, traumatized and familiar with the Homo Novus. Maybe Pavel, if he survived Metro 2033? I doubt it. It could be a new character altogether. I think it would be odd to make it a new character though; this is a main installment of the series, they wouldn’t have it so disconnected from the established characters and the novels.
I think it is actually Hunter, and the NovuReich leader is lying about his identity. Maybe he’s been broken by the evil of his “if it’s hostile, you kill it!” Mentality and the fire and horror unleashed upon the friendly Dark Ones. The Dark Ones showed him his evil, and he fled the Metro, swearing never to come back, and then someone starts using his name to lead the fascists. Thats my guess.
After all, he is one of the protagonists of Metro 2034,the book–scarred and traumatized (and evil) after being shown his true colors by the Dark Ones. Maybe the girl in the trailer is Sasha or something?