During a guest appearance on the This Week in Marvel podcast, Epic Games worldwide creative director Donald Mustard revealed that the game's Marvel crossover elements are here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Now in its fourteenth season (or season four of chapter two if you're feeling really precise), the world of Fortnite is currently embroiled in the Nexus War, a themed event featuring characters and plots from the various Marvel universes of comics, films, and TV shows. While themed seasons, overarching narratives, and guest appearances by characters from other franchises—including Star Wars, John Wick, and Stranger Things—are nothing new for the battle royale giant, this is the first time that a complete story crossover has occurred in Fortnite.
While being interviewed on the podcast, Mustard revealed that this crossover season is unlikely to be the game's last: "The reason we called this season Nexus War is that this is just the start of lots of stuff we have planned for many years of Marvel integration," he said.
Mustard describes himself as having a "lifelong passion for Marvel". Marvel is far from the only brand to create ties with Fortnite over the past couple of years, though, so some are predicting that the game will turn into a metaverse—an online space where many fictional worlds collide, Ready Player One style. Your view on where this idea sits on the sliding scale of utopia vs dystopia may vary, of course.
While Mustard's comments make it clear that he's got years of Fortnite seasons mapped out plot-wise, it's not clear just how prominently all of those stories will feature characters from the Marvel universe. This Week in Marvel is obviously a Marvel-oriented podcast, so it's hardly surprising that the interview focuses on the crossover, but there's also some interesting stuff in it about the wider philosophy of Fortnite's storytelling—including how Mustard sees the island itself as the game's true protagonist, and the one going through the traditional hero's arc.
If you fancy listening to the full episode, This Week in Marvel can be listened to at Marvel.com (where it's hosted via Art19) or on most major podcast platforms.
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