Marvel world-muncher Galactus just ate Fortnite
Delicious.
At least, that's the best I can describe what just happened in Fortnite's superhero-packed finale for Chapter 2, Season 4. The cinematic climax to an Avengers-themed period of murder island antics just wrapped up with a wonderfully bizarre dogfighting section, hurling players straight into the planet-killer's tummy before pulling the servers offline to prepare for season 5.
Confused? Same, bud, so let's take that again, step-by-step, with a recap captured by YouTuber Guille-GAG.
So, taking a break from blasting the life outta each other for just a moment, our battle royalers meet up on the helicarrier as a massive, horned figure looms in the distance. It takes a good minute for him to grow to full size, but the big lad does then immediately smash up the flying boat, prompting Iron Man to give you a jetpack as you watch the event slowly pan out.
I'm not too clued up on Fortnite "lore", but at some point, your man Galactus starts sucking up something called the Zero Point. A flash happens, and you suddenly find yourself in first-person in a battle-bus, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other busses. Fortnite then becomes a shmup, flying towards, around, and on top of Galactus until you drive straight into his mouth.
We cut to black, a phone rings, and Jonesy (Fortnite's blonde himbo mascot) wakes up. The server goes down, and the main menu tells us to stand by for Season 5.
While I wasn't there for the event itself, I do still find myself fascinated by these weird, live events. I still don't think it lives up to that black home moment wot sucked the game's main menu into a singularity, but it's kinda wild how Epic are able to blend a multiplayer deathmatch with this kind of cinematic framing (though, as ever, it's worth pointing out the human toll of Fortnite's frantic update cycle).
Following the spectacle, Fortnite's servers shut down for maintenance. They should return alongside Season 5 at around 8am UK time (4am ET).