In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last year, Disney experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro framed the company’s fledgling $1.5 billion partnership with Epic Games as being true to the original vision of “risk-taker” Walt Disney himself. If that’s true, the original imagineer might have set his lofty sights on… Fortnite as the next creative frontier, apparently.
Per THR, Star Wars: Tales Of The Underworld, an upcoming animated series, will be traveling from its regular home on Disney+ to a Fortnite island far, far away. The first two episodes of the show will premiere on the Epic platform on May 2, two days before they come to Disney+ on May 4. During the preview, wannabe Jedi will be able to join a special Star Wars Watch Party island, where they’ll be able to watch the episodes while they “battle enemies”—just as Walt always dreamed.
The modern execs seem very excited to be breaking new ground of their own, at least. “For the first time, Disney+ is premiering a show inside a game, launching alongside our largest Star Wars collaboration with Fortnite to date–giving fans and players an exciting first look at the kinds of experiences they can expect as we shape a new future together,” said Sean Shoptaw, executive VP of Disney Games & Digital Entertainment, in a statement. “We are reimagining what’s possible with immersive storytelling in Fortnite with one of the world’s most beloved franchises,” added Epic president Adam Sussman. “Stay tuned for a lot more to come.”
At the time of their original $1.5 billion investment, Disney announced that it would create a new, virtual “games and entertainment universe” in collaboration with Epic that’s expected to combine various bits of Disney IP. While details of the initiative remain under wraps as of this writing, the new Star Wars Watch Party island isn’t the first thing to come out of the deal. Playable characters from both Star Wars and the MCU have popped up in Fortnite already, and in 2019, players were able to watch an exclusive preview clip from The Rise Of Skywalker.
“We think that this is going to be a place where all fans can come and interact 365 days a year,” D’Amaro said of the initiative last year. We’ll see what this means for future Disney+ releases in the coming months. In the meantime, check out a (non-Fortnite exclusive) trailer for Tales Of The Underworld below:
