A small background shape in a recent Batman comic book has Fortnite fans speculating that Nintendo’s Samus Aran is on the way to the game. Yes, that’s a real sentence in this, the year 2021.
For some background, the comic Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point has the caped crusader pulled into the world of Fortnite, where the character recently made a cameo as a playable character in a crossover event.
GamesRadar reports that on page 12 of the comic, as Batman rides atop a car careening off of a cliff–you know, Batman stuff–the background shows a few silhouetted characters. The third one, seen on the right, has two very rounded shoulders, which some eagle-eyed fans have concluded belongs to the Metroid heroine.
Suffice it to say, the evidence is pretty thin by itself. But it’s somewhat strengthened by a recent revelation from the Epic vs. Apple trial. A leaked document showed Samus as one proposed character addition. That document was never intended to become public, so it’s unclear if those plans were ever finalized or if Samus really is coming, but that does show that Epic was at least aiming for a Samus cameo at some point. And of course, Fortnite has already imported other famous platform mascots like Master Chief and Kratos.
Epic has a tendency to hide elaborate clues around its big in-game events, and of course it’s constantly introducing new crossover characters like an upcoming NBA partnership, so teasing a character in a tie-in comic wouldn’t be out of character. Then again, Nintendo tends to be very protective of its properties, so it’s unclear if it would allow one of its most iconic characters to be lent out anyway. Time will have to tell.