Sorry, Mads Mikkelsen fans, Kojima's best boy won't be in Death Stranding 2

Those of you that loved Mads Mikkelsen in Death Stranding hoping to see him in the upcoming sequel are about to be quite disappointed.

If you've followed Hideo Kojima on Twitter since at least before Death Stranding, you will have seen the numerous images he shared of him with Hannibal actor Mads Mikkelsen, and his attempts to be as cool as the Danish actor. Mikkelsen was one of the several celebrities to appear in the walking simulator, even voicing his own character, Cliff. But during last week's State of Play, where we got to see a lengthy bit of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, as it's now known, Mikkelsen was nowhere to be seen. According to Kojima, though, we won't be seeing Cliff in the upcoming sequel.

"We have received many enthusiastic messages from you saying, 'I want to see Cliff in DS2 too!' However, Mads is not appearing in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach," wrote Kojima on Twitter. That's obviously going to be sad news if you love his character (or just love him), but Kojima did have more to see on it a bit later on.

"If you have played [Death Stranding 1] to the end, you will understand. Cliff is a character who played a very important and special role in Death Stranding. Mads understood this and performed it beautifully. Mads' Cliff will remain in the story of Death Stranding and in your memories forever. It is because we care about the character of Cliff that he will not appear in DS2. Please understand."

It's not like there aren't plenty of new famous faces to be found - while she wasn't in the trailer too much, Elle Fanning made an appearance, an actress who previously appeared in Nicholas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon, who also appeared as the face model for a character in the first. Of course, Kojima has added in a couple more director cameos this time round too, with the faces of Mad Max director George Miller, and In the Fade director Fatih Akin joining the sequel (Akin was the funny little puppet guy).

Death Stranding 2, Mads Mikkelsen or not, is apparently due out in 2025 on PS5.