Disney and Fortnite developer Epic Games revealed details of a broad plan to integrate Disney brands and characters into Epic's evolving game franchise during the company's presentation Saturday at the D23 fan convention in Anaheim, California.
During the Disney Experiences Showcase, Josh D'Amaro, Disney's chairman of parks and products, and leaders from Marvel (Kevin Feige), Pixar (Peter Docter), Lucasfilm (Dave Filoni), and Walt Disney Animation Studios (Jennifer Lee) revealed some early plans for a Disney-Epic Games collaboration to build new games and entertainment worlds tied to the wildly popular “Fortnite” gaming franchise.
“At Disney Experiences, engineers dream, invent, design and build these stories in real places. And we have engineers all over the world right now because everything we’re going to share with you is in active development,” D’Amaro told the crowd. “The plans are in place. The dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We’re doing everything you’re going to hear tonight.”
First, on August 16, fan-favorite Marvel characters Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four will appear in the story of Chapter 5 of Season 4 of Fortnite’s Battle Royale: Absolute Doom. The significance of this is that fans will be able to pick up clues and hints about the storylines of upcoming Marvel movies featuring these characters. This ties the game into Marvel’s stories in a deeper way than before — a significant move for the most dedicated Marvel fans.
Marvel Studios President Feige explained to fans that Chapter 5 marks the end of Battle Royale, revealing the first cinematic trailer and gameplay revealing the origins of a new Marvel-inspired season coming. The new season will allow players from around the world to continue the Fortnite and Marvel story with new gameplay and locations to explore.
The gaming portion of Saturday’s D23 showcase was available to stream live inside Epic’s “Fortnite,” marking a first for Disney, which has never streamed a fan-only event before. But the event at D23, a three-day fan gathering that kicked off Friday in Anaheim, California, was a natural fit and way for Disney to showcase the potential of its partnership with the company that owns the Unreal Editor for Fornite technology platform to create immersive livestreams. Disney described the livestream as an “interactive social watch party.” [that] “Players will be able to interact with the show through cheers, mini-games, and stunning visual effects.” It will be available to watch until August 16.
The Epic/Disney announcements at D23 are the first major announcements about the partnership since Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February that Disney was investing $1.5 billion in Epic Games. Iger called the move “the company’s biggest foray into gaming ever.”
Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer John Lee revealed that three beloved Disney villains will be the first fully grown Disney characters to enter the world of Fortnite: Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, and Captain Hook will become the first Disney animated characters to join Fortnite in the fall.
Docter, Pixar's chief creative officer, told fans that superheroes will be the first to make their debut in Fortnite later this year. He also said that Pixar animators plan to experiment with original ideas in new forms.
Starting next week, Lucasfilm will contribute Star Wars characters IG-11 and Moff Gideon and merchandise including a “brand-new Grogu dynamic back bling.” Filoni noted that Unreal technology was used to help visualize the world of Lucasfilm’s hit Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” and other shows. Filoni and “Mandalorian” head Jon Favreau are considering ways to harness the power of “Fortnite” to let fans into the show by letting them walk through “Mandalorian” sets brought to life in Unreal.
At the time, the two companies announced a collaborative Disney universe within Fortnite that would “offer multiple opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and interact with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more.”
Iger said that when he returned to the CEO role at Disney in November 2022, he met with Disney Experiences President D’Amaro and Games President Sean Shoptow to talk about Disney’s gaming business and “the first thing they showed me was the demographic trends.” “And when I saw Gen Z and Gen Alpha and even Millennials, I saw the amount of time they were spending in terms of total media screen time on video games, it was astounding to me, on par with what they were spending on TV and movies,” Iger said. “And the conclusion I came to was that we have to be there and we have to be there as soon as possible in a very compelling way.”
The three-day D23 kicked off on Friday with a slew of news about upcoming movies, TV shows and live events from the Mouse House. On Sunday, the event will conclude with the Disney Legends Awards being presented to recipients including Miley Cyrus, Harrison Ford, Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis.
