Disney and “Fortnite” developer Epic Games unveiled details of a broad plan to integrate Disney brands and characters into Epic’s cutting-edge game franchise during the company’s presentation Saturday at the D23 fan gathering in Anaheim, Calif.
During the Disney Experiences Showcase presentation, Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s parks and products chief, and leaders of Marvel (Kevin Feige), Pixar (Peter Docter), Lucasfilm (Dave Filoni) and Walt Disney Animation Studios (Jennifer Lee) revealed some of the early plans for the Disney-Epic Games collaboration to build new games and entertainment universes tied to its enormously popular “Fornite” gaming franchise.
“At Disney Experiences, Imagineers dream, create, design and build these stories into real places. And we have Imagineers in place right now all around the world because everything we’re going to share with you is in active development,” D’Amaro told the crowd. “Plans are drawn. Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We are doing everything you’re going to hear tonight.”
For one, on Aug. 16 fan favorite Marvel characters Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four will be featured in the storyline for Fornite’s Battle Royale’s Chapter 5, Season 4: Absolute Doom. The significance is that fans will be able to pick up clues and hints as to the storylines for upcoming Marvel films featuring those characters. That connects the game to Marvel storytelling in an deeper way than before — a move with significance to Marvel’s most dedicated fans.
Feige, Marvel Studios’ president, explained to fans that Chapter 5 marks the conclusion of Battle Royale, and he revealed the world premiere of a cinematic and gameplay trailer revealing the origins of a new upcoming Marvel-themed season. 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 presentation was available for streaming within Epic’s “Fortnite,” marking a first for Disney, which has not previously livestreamed the ticketed fan event. But the event at the D23 Expo, the three-day Disney fan gathering that began Friday in Anaheim, Calif., was a natural fit and way for Disney to show off the possibilities of its partnership with the company whose proprietary Unreal Editor for Fornite tech platform is on the leading edge of creating immersive live-stream events. Disney described the live stream as “an interactive social watch party [that] enabled players to engage with the showcase through cheers, mini games and spectacular visual effects.” It will remain available for viewing until Aug. 16.
The Epic/Disney announcements made out of D23 mark the first big reveals regarding the partnership since Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February that Disney had invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games. Iger billed it as the company’s “biggest foray into the game space ever.”
Lee, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, disclosed that three beloved Disney villains will be the first full-fledged Disney characters to enter the world of “Fortnite”: Maleficent, Cruella de Vil and Captain Hook will become the first Disney Animation characters to join Fortnite in the fall.
From the Pixar canon, the Incredibles will be the first to debut in “Fortnite” later this year, Docter, Pixar’s chief creative officer, told fans. He also said Pixar animators plan to experiment with original ideas in new formats.
Starting next week, Lucasfilm will contribute Star Wars characters IG-11 and Moff Gideon and items for sale including “all-new Grogu dynamic Back Bling.” Filoni noted that the Unreal tech was used to help envision the universe of Lucasfilm’s Disney+ hit “The Mandalorian” and other series. Filoni and “Mandalorian” chief Jon Favreau are considering ways to harness “Fortnite’s” power to allow fans to step into the show by allowing them to walk through “Mandalorian” sets brought to life by Unreal.
At that time, the two companies teased a Disney universe interoperating inside of “Fortnite” that will “offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Avatar’ and more.
Iger said upon his return as Disney CEO in November 2022, he met with Disney experiences boss D’Amaro and gaming chief Sean Shoptaw to talk about Disney’s gaming business and “the first thing they showed me were 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 their total media screen time on video games, it was stunning to me, equal to what they spend on TV and movies,” Iger said. “And the conclusion I reached was we have to be there and we have to be there as soon as we possibly can in a very compelling way.”
The three-day D23 event kicked off Friday with a slew of news about movies, TV shows and live events coming from the Mouse House. On Sunday, the event will wrap with the presentation of its Disney Legends honors to such recipients as Miley Cyrus, Harrison Ford, Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis.