GTA fans finally get their first look at Grand Theft Auto 5’s character Michael in the Grand Theft Auto universe since the game’s release in 2013.
Below we can see Michael in the DLC trailer for GTA Online A Safehouse in the Hills. In the trailer for the upcoming expansion, which adds a luxurious modern home for the Internet’s most successful criminals to the online experience, a noticeably older, graying Michael De Santa and his wife Amanda greet the player at the front door of their fancy modern bed in the Hollywood Hills. This is the first time Michael (Ned Luke) has appeared in the Grand Theft Auto universe since the release of GTA 5 in 2013.
The update also clears up any doubts surrounding GTA 5’s canonical ending, confirming once and for all that Option C, aka “Death Wish,” is how the story goes should end.
This now means that all three playable characters, as well as the remaining two, Franklin and Trevor, have appeared in GTA Online. Naturally, this means that the “Death Wish” ending is now canon in the online version of Los Santos, as this is the only way for all three characters to remain alive at the end of GTA 5’s final mission, “The Third Way” – one of three possible final levels available depending on player choice. In comparison, “Something Sensible” is option A, which leaves both Franklin and Michael alive but kills Trevor, and “It’s About Time” is option B, which leaves Franklin and Trevor alive but Michael dies.
In all three possible endings, Franklin lives to walk the streets of Los Santos, so it always seemed natural that he would be a part of GTA Online, which takes place after the events of Grand Theft Auto 5. Trevor has also been around since 2013, giving online heroes missions and calling in to criticize them over the phone in his own peculiar way, but this is the first time we’ve seen Michael’s face since then.
However, eagle-eyed online players would have heard a tiny mention of a professional bank robber in 2021, which, while definitely a reference to Michael, doesn’t 100% confirm that he’s still around. This happens while Franklin is chasing two golfers around the Richards Majestic Studios movie lot downtown. This is one of the places where Michael works to fulfill his dreams of producing Hollywood films in the game’s main campaign. Franklin remarks, “I know one of the producers here. I hope his ass isn’t working today…” implying that De Santa is still employed there after all this time.
It’s fascinating that Rockstar decided to put Michael back in the world of GTA so many years after we last saw him, and it begs the question of how long this was planned for, considering that this update fell so close to the GTA 6 release date of November 19, 2025. Is this the creators of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption saying goodbye to these characters before preparing to release Lucia and Jason into the world in 2026?
What do you think about Rockstar choosing the “Deathwish” ending as canon in GTA 5? Let us know in the comments below. And of course, for all things GTA 6, stick with IGN.
Simon Cardy is a senior editor at IGN who can mostly be found hanging around open-world games, watching Korean cinema, or moping about the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
