Lance Reddick, Destiny 2’s Commander Zavala, Dies At 60

Lance Reddick, star of The Wire, John Wick and video games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Destiny 2, has died at just age 60.

TMZ first reported Reddick’s death this afternoon, and while his cause of death is unknown, sources indicate it is from natural causes.

While most people likely first got to know Reddick as Cedric Daniels on The Wire, a role he played for five seasons, in recent times, Reddick has been a key part of the John Wick franchise as well, opposite Keanu Reeves. But in the world of video gaming, Reddick holds a special place in many hearts.

He’s had the role of Sylens across two Horizon games on PlayStation now, but his longest-running role is that of Commander Zavala in Destiny 2, which he’d held for nearly a decade with an unwavering commitment to the franchise, always playing the Titan Vanguard leader, and arguably the star character of the franchise, outside of the player themselves.

Destiny 1 and 2 have undergone many, many voice recastings over the years. Reddick was originally part of a group of well-known TV/film actors playing significant parts in Destiny 1. Firefly’s Nathan Fillion and Gina Torres were cast as the other two Vanguard members, Cayde-6 and Ikora. Cayde was recast and eventually killed off. Ikora was recast as of last year.

It has also not been uncommon for voice actors in Destiny to disappear for very long periods of time, busy with other work so they were written around.

Not Lance Reddick, and not Commander Zavala. His role has never been recast since his debut in 2014, and he has shown up for new voicework almost every single year without fail, often appearing in multiple seasons or expansions in a given year. His tragic, early death is a heartbreaking moment for millions of Guardians. It was always assumed he’d play the role indefinitely, and as Destiny begins to venture into animated or live-action projects, the thought was that they could cast whoever they wanted in various roles, except Lance Reddick would always be Zavala. He still will be.

As for what this means for Destiny, I cannot imagine a scenario in which he’s recast, and Zavala may indeed be written out of the story. I would absolutely imagine the game will have eventually have some sort of tribute to Zavala and Reddick in the future. It’s unclear what additional, unreleased work Reddick may have already recorded for the game. Elsewhere, he will once again appear in the fourth John Wick film, out this year.

What a loss. More information to come.

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