Fortnite's battle royale is about to welcome ancient Greece. Matt Damon's Odysseus from Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will arrive in the game's item shop on Thursday, July 16, as part of a major update that also brings David Beckham and a lineup of Batman characters in swimwear.
Epic Games has already revealed footage of the Odysseus skin, which captures Damon's likeness in digital form. A second skin will also drop the same day, featuring Agamemnon, the hulking general played by Benny Safdie in the film.
Players hoping to unlock Odysseus without spending can enter the in-game tournament tied to the release. While winning outright requires skill, even lower-ranked entries will earn participants an Odyssey-themed loading screen as a consolation prize.
The timing of the Fortnite skins coincides with the film's theatrical release on July 17. Nolan's adaptation, which runs 2 hours and 53 minutes, aims to challenge what he describes as "cultural prejudices" about the ancient world. The movie also features a notably practical Cyclops creature, raising the question of why that particular monster hasn't made its way into the battle royale.
The Odyssey's entry into Fortnite marks another chapter in the relentless march of intellectual property into gaming. The film itself has already spawned an AI-narrated audiobook version using a synthetic Michael Caine voice, and an entirely AI-generated film adaptation that reviewers have dubbed "Slopbuster" rather than a blockbuster.
Author Emily Chen: "The fact that we're getting Odysseus skins before the movie even hits theaters shows just how tightly tied film marketing and games have become, but turning Homer's heroes into cosmetics still feels surreal."
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