Ever since the death of Stan Lee last year, tributes to the comic book icon have been pouring in from all corners of Marvel fandom, and Fortnite is the latest to tip its hat to Stan "The Man" Lee.
Appropriately, Fortnite's new Avengers: Endgame mode has a reference to Lee at the end of each match. Lee's signature sign-off, "Excelsior!," appears at the bottom of the screen, whether players win or lose, at the end of each game.
Latin for “ever upward,” Excelsior was a catchphrase used by Lee that evolved into an all-encompassing term for Marvel. After being integrated into the publishing giant's brand and comics for decades, the term became forever associated with both Lee and Marvel since he was the public face of Marvel for so many years.
Fortnite teamed up with Marvel once before for a crossover, around the time Avengers: Infinity War was released last year. The battle royale game's "Endgame Mode," is the second such team-up, and ties into the release of Avengers: Endgame. All the stops are pulled out, as add-ons including Stormbreaker, Iron Man's blasters and Captain America's shield as weapons on the battlefield, and new character types and cosmetics are available for purchase in the game's shop.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos. The film is in theaters worldwide.
(via Polygon)