James Whitbrook
Earlier this year, when Disney announced that it was teaming up with Epic Games for its latest attempt to push into video gaming–via a huge investment and plans for a major collaboration in Fortnite–the studio heralded the news as “a new universe” for fans to interact with the many worlds Disney now owns. And shop, of course, so naturally that’s exactly where we’re starting.
Announced last night during the Disney Horizons panel–which itself got streamed within the game itself, its latest live-event package that let player avatars merrily do the griddy in a faux stage hall–the first phase of Disney’s next gaming step is largely a way to continue advancing its myriad crossovers within Fortnite. Disney’s Josh D’Amaro brought out Disney Animation’s Jennifer Lee, Pixar’s Pete Docter, Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni, and Marvel’s Kevin Feige to tease a series of new skin packs for the game rolling out over the rest of the year.
This Fall, skins based on Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone from the Incredibles movies, as well as a trio of Disney villains–Maleficent, Captain Hook, and Cruella de Vil–will come to the game, but next week will see the launch of three new Star Wars items inspired by The Mandalorian‘s third season: skins of Moff Gideon and IG-12, and a an animated backpack bling of Grogu in a satchel.
Arguably, however, it was Marvel that got the biggest announcement: Fortnite‘s next season is entirely Marvel-themed. Titled “Absolute Doom” and launching August 16, its story centers around Doctor Doom coming to the game’s island to wreak havoc with the power of Pandora’s Box, leading to a cadre of Marvel friends and foes–including Black Panther‘s Shuri, Cyclops, Colossus, Jubilee, Gwenpool, Emma Frost, Mysterio, and more–as well as Marvel mashups of Fornite characters, teaming up to stop him.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that Disney’s efforts with its $1.5 billion stake in Epic are starting out pretty tentatively. After all, the deal announced back in February did make mention of an “all-new games universe” that could perhaps exist within Fortnite akin to the likes of the game’s recently added Lego and Rocket Racing modes, and that will take time to develop. Docter, Filoni, and Lee all mentioned that things beyond Fortnite skins were in the works (including a new Mandalorian-themed ride variant for Galaxy’s Edge’s Smuggler’s Run ride, made with Epic’s Unreal Engine). So for now, expect more crossovers like this until we really begin to see the power of a fully armed and operational Disney/Epic collaboration.
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