Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, you will likely have seen that the trailer for the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 dropped early due to leaks.
Rockstar Games took the leak like pros, though, releasing the trailer officially not long after the leaks were spotted and asking fans to simply watch the posted version on social media. True legends.
Along with the trailer, Rockstar also released the first official poster/artwork for the dual protagonists of the game: Lucia and Jason. While some fans are speculating that the two are inspired by Eva Longoria and Ryan Gosling’s characters from the film A Place Beyond the Pines, other eagle-eyed fans made a connection that is a little closer to home.
Reddit user ProfessorGiraporra spotted the similarities between the Lucia and Jason promotional artwork and the artwork of Kendl and Cesar released during the promotion of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In both images, the woman in the relationship sits behind her partner and holds onto them protectively. They both have a look that screams, “If you hurt my man, no one will find your body.” We do love a lady who is willing to commit atrocities for the love of her life.
This comparison is pretty apt and could be pointing towards the strength and importance of the relationship between Lucia and Jason. Kendl Johnson—CJ’s sister—and her beau Cesar Vialpando weren’t the main characters of their story, though, unlike Lucia and Jason. Instead, they were secondary characters to CJ, though their romance played an important role.
In San Andreas, Cesar is the leader of the Varrios Los Aztecas, a rival gang to CJ’s Grove Street crew. When his relationship with Carl’s sister is revealed, CJ is instantly suspicious. However, it becomes clear that Cesar and Kendl truly love each other, with Cesar going as far as to do what he can to earn CJ’s trust and respect so that he knows how much his sister means to him. Their relationship leads to mutual trust, with Cesar quickly becoming a close friend and confidant of Carl and his family.
Kendl and Cesar acted as a bridge of sorts, helping to establish kinship between the rival territories (even though you can still stir up trouble with the Aztecas in the game from time to time). The blatant comparison between the two couples suggests that Lucia and Jason’s romance will likely play an important role in the greater story of GTA 6.
On the other hand, this could all just be a coincidence, and I’m simply speculating on something nonexistent. Rockstar Games has a habit of leading us on, after all. That said, it is a company that acts meticulously and with purpose, and there is no doubting the similarities between the Lucia and Jason pose and the Cesar and Kendl pose. Is this just a throwback or a tease of a Bonnie and Clyde, star-crossed lover’s tale? We’ll have to wait until 2025 to find out.
