Fortnite creator reveals how Avengers: Endgame directors and J.J. Abrams were pivotal in the shaping of the battle royale

The co-creator of Fortnite has revealed the crucial role several filmmakers played in the shaping of the much beloved battle royale video game. 

Speaking to GamesRadar+ recently at the Sands: International Film Festival in St Andrews, Scotland, the former CCO of Epic Games, Donald Mustard, discussed the ways both the Russo Brothers (who helmed several Marvel movies including Avengers: Endgame) and J.J. Abrams (the director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Trek amongst others) helped bring his vision to life.

Initially unsure how he could capture his childhood dream of a world where film and TV characters from different universes could interact with each other authentically, Mustard reached out to his friend Abrams for some advice - and luckily for him, the director had many words of wisdom that had a direct impact on what would become Fortnite.

As he revealed to us: "Having Snake Eyes and Spider-Man and Darth Vader and Batman next to each other would be the ultimate 12-year-old me dream - so, that's what I set out to make happen right from the start. But how do create a narrative framework and a conceit for that world?  Ultimately, it’s this idea of the zero point and that zero point is all these interconnected realities, and as characters move through those realities, they can authentically sit next to each other. You could have Spider-Man next to Batman in a way that is actually authentic and cool.

"So, I was laying that idea and that narrative down slowly. I'm very influenced by J.J. Abrams and kind of his approach to storytelling - and I was actually talking with him a lot about it at the time, we're pretty good friends. I was saying to him 'I kinda want to try this thing, how would you pace it and structure it' - he was giving me a lot of good advice on how to kind of string that stuff out." 

The Russo Brothers meanwhile stepped in at a later date, after Fortnite had become a huge success and Mustard was looking at new directions to take it in. It turns out that meeting the directors sparked an idea for further ways to develop the game, with the trio working together on the first crossover event of its kind - one which let gamers play as supervillain Thanos.

Mustard explained: "As Fortnite got more and more successful, it opened a lot of opportunities to be able to approach the people that own and control all these awesome different characters and IPs, and present it to them, tell them the story in a way that made them feel comfortable with trusting their characters with me and with us to kind of do this really cool stuff. 

"And it really started with how I met Joe and Anthony Russo. The very first collaboration we ever did in Fortnite was with Thanos for Infinity War and that began with Joe and I meeting each other, talking to each other for many, many hours, and and as artists coming to a ‘wouldn't it be so cool if’. From there we built the Thanos integration which was amazing - and once people experienced that, that really opened the doors to all these possibilities."

For more from our interview with Mustard, here's what he had to say when reflecting on the game's $26 billion success.

Meanwhile for more games like Fortnite, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best battle royale games.