Yo, legends! It's 2026 and I'm still buzzing about the Revenant rework from Season 18! Remember when they dropped "Revenant Reborn" and completely flipped our murder-bot boy on his head? No more Death Totem, no more Silence—just pure, unadulterated aggression. But man, you wouldn't believe the wild stuff they tried out before landing on his final kit. I recently dug into some old dev interviews and the behind-the-scenes is absolutely wild.

Back in 2023, the devs had one clear goal: make Revenant the ultimate in-your-face assassin. Gameplay designer Evan Funnell said they started prototyping about a year before the season dropped. That's a whole year of experimenting with crazy abilities that never made it to the live servers! Writer Jaclyn Seto joined the narrative team about six months in to tie it all together with his ongoing beef with Loba (and Eduardo Silva, that sneaky guy). So much work went into making our edgy simulacrum feel fresh again.

Let's talk about the elephant in the room: WALL RUNNING. Yeah, you read that right. The devs actually prototyped giving Revenant the ability to wall run, just like in Titanfall! Can you imagine how insane that would have been?

Funnell said they tried it out, but it was "super situational." Apex maps just aren't built for wall running at their core. It would have been a flashy, fan-service ability that only worked in specific spots. While part of me is heartbroken we never got to parkour across World's Edge, it makes sense. An ability that relies entirely on map geometry isn't reliable for a character meant to be a consistent threat.

But wait, it gets weirder. How about an Ultimate that literally drags an enemy into a shadow realm for a 1v1 duel? This wasn't just a concept—they had a working prototype! The idea was that Revenant could single out a target, yeet them into another dimension, and the winner would come back to the battlefield with recharged health and shields. Talk about an assassin's fantasy!

The Problems They Faced:

• Counterplay: How does the enemy avoid or fight back in a fair way?

• Value: How does Revenant feel like he got his Ultimate's worth?

• Flow: Imagine winning a duel, popping back into a real-time firefight, and immediately getting third-partied. Disorienting doesn't even begin to cover it!

Funnell explained it perfectly: they wanted Revenant to focus on one target without distractions. The shadow duel was a cool way to execute that fantasy, but it created more problems than it solved. Balancing a forced 1v1 in a team-based battle royale is a nightmare. Do your teammates just stand around waiting? What if you drag in the wrong enemy at the wrong time? The potential for frustration was huge.

Looking back from 2026, it's fascinating to see how these cut ideas evolved. The "singular focus" goal didn't disappear—it just transformed. Instead of a shadow realm, we got:

• Passive: Seeing low-health enemies (perfect for picking your prey)

• Tactical: A massive leap to chase them down

• Ultimate: Forged Shadows for protection while you go for the kill

It's all about the hunt. The final kit lets Revenant identify, pursue, and eliminate a target within the flow of the normal game, not in some separate mini-game. That's way healthier for Apex's overall ecosystem.

My Personal Take (2026 Edition):

Playing Revenant now feels so different from his old version. He's less about area denial with Silence and more about raw, targeted pressure. I still miss the chaos of a well-placed Death Totem push sometimes, but Forged Shadows lets you make those aggressive plays more consistently. The cut abilities sound amazing on paper—wall running would have been a content creator's dream—but I think the devs made the right call. Apex is about fluid, moment-to-moment decisions, and abilities that break that flow too much usually don't last.

What Could Have Been vs. What We Got:

Cut Concept	Problem	How Final Kit Addressed It
Wall Running	Too map-dependent, situational	Gave him enhanced climbing & a leap for reliable mobility
Shadow Realm Duel	Disrupted game flow, balancing issues	Forged Shields allow dueling in the fight, not outside it
Keeping Death Totem	Didn't fit aggressive assassin meta	Scrapped entirely for a more selfish, aggressive Ultimate

The iterative process is brutal, man. So many cool ideas hit the cutting room floor. But seeing how Revenant Reborn has shaped the meta over the past few years, I'm glad they prioritized health and reliability over pure spectacle. He went from a niche pick to a consistent A-tier menace, and that's because his kit works with Apex Legends, not against it.

So next time you're leaping off a building with Forged Shadows active, hunting that one cracked enemy, remember: you could have been wall-running into a shadow dimension instead. The timeline we got is pretty good, all things considered. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some souls to harvest. 😈