Fans Demand Samuel L Jackson Fortnite Skin After Super Bowl Ad
I've had it with these motherchuffin' players on this motherchuffin' Battle Bus. In the crazy world of Fortnite where Travis Scott and Tyler "Ninja" Blevins can have a skin alongside a popcorn-headed corn cob, the Predator, and robotic dinosaurs, is it really that much of a leap to imagine Samuel L. Jackson being immortalised in Epic Games' battle royale behemoth? Taking someone's likeness for Fortnite is nothing new, with Keanu Reeves' John Wick and David Harbour's Chief Jim Hopper looking like doppelgängers for the Hollywood A-listers, but why Samuel L. Jackson, and why now?
Jules Winnfield, Mace Windu, Nick Fury - these are just some of Jackson's iconic performances from over the years. All of these are before we even get to his roles in everything from Jurassic Park to Shaft, Goodfellas to Coach Carter. You name it, Jackson has done it, making him the highest-grossing actor of all time (when cameos are excluded). The A-lister is also no stranger to video games thanks to his portrayal of the corrupt Officer Frank Tenpenny in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Why do players want a Samuel L Jackson Fortnite skin?
The fan campaign came about from Jackson's surprise appearance at Super Bowl LV. The sporting event of the year has become known for its commercials - providing some of the most expensive air time on TV - while Jackson popping up in Verizon's was no exception to the star-studded rule. As well as Winona Ryder reprise her role from Edward Scissorhands being a particular highlight, seeing Jackson in Fortnite form was pretty epic.
Verizon's ad was used to promote its new 5G service, which has also been tied to Fortnite via a week-long campaign. In-game, Verizon sponsored a virtual stadium, where players could meet NFL favourites including DeAndre Hopkins, Joey Bosa, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kyler Murray, Ryan Shazier, Tarik Cohen, and Tua Tagovailoa. Even if the Super Bowl ad wasn't specifically to promote Fortnite, it was clearly inspired by the style of Epic's title. There was also a clever nod to his legendary death in Deep Blue Sea for Jackson fans.
Gamers loved the idea of seeing Jackson immortalised in Fortnite. One wrote, "Welp now I’ll never be able to unsee Samuel L Jackson as a Fortnite character", while another added, "Verizon should have just partnered with Fortnite and put Sam Jackson in the game for that commercial". A third simply said, "YOOO WHEN DO I GET A SAMUEL L. JACKSON FORTNITE SKIN". Fortnite is known for teasing the arrival of its next skin, but at the time of writing, there's no concrete evidence that Jackson is on the way to the map.
Should there be a Samuel L Jackson Fortnite skin?
While it's all a nice idea, there's a sense that we might've missed the boat on this one. We're heading toward the end of Chapter 2 Season 5, which has spat the likes of the Mandalorian, Predator, and Terminator out onto the map. Season 5 came hot off the heels of the Marvel-themed Chapter 2 Season 4 including a whole host of Avengers favourites. These days, Jackson is known as the eye patched Nick Fury, meaning a Marvel season would've been the perfect time to drop him. Even though the season was based around Marvel Comics (rather than the Marvel Cinematic Universe), modern iterations of the comics have changed Fury to look a lot like Jackson's portrayal. Added to this, the game's version of Tony Stark looked a lot like Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man.
Ultimately, it's easy to imagine a Samuel L. Jackson Fortnite skin that's customisable with a variety of his iconic looks. From Nick Fury's eyepatch to those iconic beret days, his Pulp Fiction afro to his Mace Windu lightsaber. Last year, we showed off how one artist creates realistic-looking skins of celebs, with his Ariana Grande Fortnite skin looking like it's been pulled directly from the game. Maybe he should try his hand at mocking up what Jackson could look like, then send it over to Epic? Either way, we love the idea of a Samuel L. Jackson Fortnite skin.
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