A potential merger of sorts between Fortnite and the soon-to-be-released ‘Wicked’ musical movie has been abandoned according to the latest news. This report first appeared in a tweet from the leaker ShiinaBR that quoted the source as AdiraFNInfo. The whole spectrum of reactions from the Fortnite community has been set off by these reports, with some players expressing their disappointment and others celebrating the fact that the crossover is not happening after all.
It is pretty evident that at this point in time, Fortnite is the ultimate crossover universe and has a roster comprised of Marvel, Star Wars, Dragon Ball, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc. But this time the line seems to be drawn right at the Emerald City gates. ShiinaBR has broken the news about a planned crossover with ‘Wicked’, the musical prequel to The Wizard of Oz being canceled. It was just like that, gone—poof! No more flying on a broomstick.
There were no explanations provided in the tweet, only a link to the source, yet the replies were nothing short of chaotic. This was an ideal representation of the Fortnite community’s split personality with one side being totally crushed. User ‘betzyc__’ expressed their grief with “NOOOO FUCK” which is very relatable. ‘gagamultiverse’ shared a crying GIF with “wtf no,” and ‘ayybergs’ remarked, “Idk how much more bad news I can take man.” The whole thing is like they were granted access to travel on a broomstick and then had the invitation revoked right in front of them.
On the flip side, the other half is very much rejoicing. It’s more like they’re celebrating. “Thank god,” said ‘BigberthaC’. ‘TymonShadow’ remarked “Good that it got scrapped.” Even ‘fkn_joee’ sent up a prayer hands emoji for good measure. ‘col_g8’ could not be more succinct with just “hell yeah,” which is pretty definitive. This group’s vibe is a huge, collective breath of relief. It’s like they’ve just ducked a bullet, or perhaps a flying monkey.
Then came the jokes, naturally. ‘DaJesster’ humorously, “Epic didn’t know how to make the models skinny enough 😆” which is quite a savage dig at the game’s art style as well as the musical’s aesthetic, I guess? ‘imoqz9’ shared an image of a flaming computer with the caption “The game was about to become unplayable,” implying that a Glinda skin would have literally made the game’s code impossible to manage. Dramatic for sure yet funny.
Among the responses there were those who tried to rationalize it. ‘goonerlicious’ put it quite reasonably when he said: “Yeah, I don’t think those audiences really overlap.” And you know what? They could be right. The very essence of Fortnite is all about war royale, building, and anime powers. ‘Wicked’ is a Broadway musical about the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West turned into a movie. Even though it’s a little tonal clash, it still suits Fortnite’s everything-goes mentality. ‘JSliderVR’ speculated, “I think the wicked thing is nearing its end,” perhaps suggesting that the movie’s hype cycle did not sync with Epic’s plans.
The comments even shifted to some… international smack-down? There was an entire conversation in Swedish that was translated to something about a “thoughtless two-celled braindead” person which is… inventive? It was off-topic from Fortnite and Wicked, but it happened, and that’s the fun of Twitter replies. They are like a lawless place.
On the one hand, it indicates that Epic Games is probably, just probably, a wee bit picky with its collaborations. They would give us a guitar-swinging Peter Griffin, but the Elphaba character singing “Defying Gravity” while getting sniped from a hill would be indeed a bridge too far. It also underlines the fact that every possible Fortnite skin leak tends to trigger a huge community event. People get emotionally involved in these rumors! They take sides! It is insane.
Those players who were excited about it are disappointed. They lost a possible content that they were really looking forward to. The players who disliked the idea, on the other hand, see it as a win for their desired future of Fortnite. And for the rest, it is just another day in the constant, swirling rumor mill of live-service gaming. At the end of the day, Fortnite’s collaboration strategy is a huge part of its identity and this scrap of news proves that even in the most crossover-friendly game on the planet, not every deal gets done. The community’s divided response is indicative of how much gamers connect with these platforms, including those on PlayStation and Xbox.
