Ben Affleck Says Fortnite Inspired Netflix Film, Argues with Kids in Voice Chat
The actor and director revealed Fortnite's skin designs influenced costumes in his new movie and detailed his frustrating online gaming experiences.
Ben Affleck said his son's love of Fortnite skins directly inspired the villain costumes in his new Netflix film and recounted being destroyed and taunted by 12-year-olds in online shooters.
Speaking on the New Heights podcast, Affleck explained that the fuzzy bunny mask worn by a character in "Animals" came from Fortnite.
"I thought these costumes are so kind of random and unusual, that's what I based the costumes on," Affleck said.
"I thought he'd be getting them off games."
Affleck said his son had been showing him skins and kept calling them "tough," which the director found puzzling at first.
The actor also described his actual experience playing first-person shooters online, where he said he has an inflated sense of his own ability.
"I always play games. I play first person shooter games, so I think I'm good, and then 12-year-olds just fk you up," Affleck said.
"I try to come out and I'm like, 'Here I come.' I get killed right away, and then they taunt you, like, 'You suck. Fk you!' I end up getting in arguments. 'F**k you! I don't suck! I'm a grown man!'"
Affleck regularly plays Madden and NBA 2K in addition to shooters.
His comments highlight Fortnite's cultural reach, with its eclectic skin roster becoming a reference point for mainstream creative work.
Fortnite has built one of the most eclectic skin rosters in gaming, stacking everything from banana suits and alien parasites to licensed crossovers from Marvel and Star Wars.
The game's visual identity is built around the idea that anything can look threatening if the context is right.
The game's current season has leaned hard into that identity, with the Simpsons takeover bringing a cel-shaded Springfield aesthetic to the island.
Affleck's son calling those skins "tough" is exactly the kind of cultural currency Epic Games has been building for years.
The fact that it filtered into a Netflix film's costume design is just the latest proof that Fortnite's art direction punches well above its weight.
"Animals" releases on Netflix on October 9, 2026.
