Matt Damon Joins Fortnite: A Trip Down Memory Lane to ‘The Bourne Conspiracy’

This week, Fortnite is spicing things up by introducing new character skins inspired by Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, The Odyssey. Among the highlights is none other than Matt Damon, who makes his entry into the gaming world as Odysseus. Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time we’ve almost seen Damon in a video game. Flashback to 2008, when a little title called The Bourne Conspiracy was in the works, and things could have turned out quite differently.

Over the years, whispers circulated about Damon being involved in the game, but it wasn’t until a 2021 chat on Sean Evans’ show Hot Ones that we got the full scoop. Damon shared that he was indeed interested in reprising his role as Jason Bourne and had even been offered a hefty sum to make it happen. However, he had a different vision for the project. Instead of the typical first-person shooter setup, Damon imagined something more thought-provoking, taking inspiration from the classic puzzle-adventure game Myst, which is known for its lack of guns and car chases.

Despite his star power and intriguing ideas, the development team at High Moon Studios decided to move on without his input, as well as the input of Chris Cooper, who played Alexander Conklin in The Bourne Identity. Interestingly, Franka Potente did return to reprise her role as Marie from the first two films, giving some continuity to the game.

In the grand scheme of things, it seems Damon didn’t miss out on too much. While The Bourne Conspiracy had its moments, its attempt to juggle brawling, stealth, shooting, and driving left it feeling like a jack of all trades but a master of none. Plus, with the Bourne movie franchise seemingly on hold since the lackluster release of Jason Bourne in 2016, fans of the original trilogy might just want to pretend everything ended perfectly with The Bourne Ultimatum.