Marvel & Fortnite Collide In Superb Fortnite Variant Covers
Marvel Comics is collaborating with Fortnite on a series of stunning team-up variant covers, to be released in September and October. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has become the biggest star in Hollywood, with last year's Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time. Meanwhile, Marvel Comics remains the top performer in comic book sales. As such, it's no surprise other companies are interested in striking partnerships with Marvel.
Take the example of Fortnite, the massive free-to-play battle royale title from Epic Games., which is already known for collaborating with other franchises. The worlds of Marvel and the Island will collide in an event called "Nexus War" in Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 4. This will feature Marvel heroes such as the Mighty Thor crossing over with the world of Fortnite via character skins and weapons. This has been teased in spectacular form, with an in-game comic book revealing how Thor brings the Avengers to Fortnite to battle against Galactus. Naturally, such a partnership is a big deal for Marvel, and as a result, they've announced a range of variant covers coming out in September and October to mark the occasion.
Marvel has recruited some of the best artists in the industry, including the likes of Joe Quesada, Ed McGuinness, Sara Pichelli, and Russell Dauterman to produce official Fortnite team-up variants. Here are all the ones to collect, along with the covers that have been revealed to date:
- Avengers #36 Fortnite Variant by Sara Pichelli
- Fantastic Four #24 Fortnite Variant by Giuseppe Camuncoli
- Savage Avengers #12 Fortnite Variant by Adam Kubert
- Marauders #13 Fortnite Variant by Russell Dauterman
- Thor #8 Fortnite Variant by Olivier Coipel
- Venom #29 Fortnite Variant Aaron Kuder
- X-Force #13 Fortnite Variant Joshua Cassara
- Avengers #37 Fortnite Variant by Mark Brooks
- Captain America #24 Fortnite Variant by Ed McGuinness
- Captain Marvel #22 Fortnite Variant by Iban Coello
- Guardians of the Galaxy #7 Fortnite Variant by Javier Garron
- Iron Man #2 Fortnite Variant by Marco Checchetto
- X-Men #13 Fortnite Variant by Joe Quesada
Marvel is often criticized for failing to make the most of opportunities to reach new audiences, so it's great to see the publisher actually capitalize upon this one. The Fortnite connection means the comic book characters have the potential to reach prospective readers who would ordinarily never darken the doors of a comic book retailer, and the team-up variants give them a reason to pick up specific issues.
Unfortunately, Marvel doesn't appear to have picked the titles particularly carefully. While Iron Man #2 is likely a good jumping-on point for new readers - anyone who enjoys the book will only need to pick up a single previous issue - that's not the case with the X-Men books. Both Marauders #13 and X-Men #13 are chapters in a massive 24-part event called "X of Swords," specifically chapters 5 and 10. Crafted by Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard, this event builds on the last year's worth of X-Men comics, meaning neither of those specific issues will be new-reader-friendly. Marvel's intention is there, but the execution is still a little lacking.