Following a week-long campaign of teasers hinting toward a certain Marvel-themed event coming to Fortnite, Epic Games finally delivered the goods yesterday. Mimicking the release of Avengers: Endgame in theaters worldwide, the battle royale’s own Endgame event went live on April 25th, bringing with it a suitably-themed Limited-Time Mode for fans to devour. The playlist, which pits two teams of players against each other in a winner-takes-all war for the Infinity Stones, is available to all as part of a free update.
24 hours on, players in their thousands have already served either Thanos or the Avengers in the conflict, no doubt discovering a wealth of crafty Easter Eggs placed by Epic as they go. One secret, in particular, has been making major news, however, as it pertains to the recent passing of legendary comic book writer Stan Lee. In order to witness the tribute first-hand, you’ll need to win a match of Endgame on either team and then pay close attention to the victory screen.
At the bottom of the screen, below ‘Universe Saved,’ you’ll find the phrase ‘Excelsior!’ Fans have since flocked to Twitter in order to show their appreciation of the tribute.
https://twitter.com/LYRCMck/status/1121374214198562816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1121374214198562816%7Ctwgr%5E363937393b70726f64756374696f6e&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fgaming%2F2019%2F04%2F25%2Ffortnite-avengers-endgame-stan-lee-excelsior%2F
The phrase was famously used by Stan Lee as his own personal sign-off to readers, the origin of which was later well-documented in an article by Men’s Health.
I used to have a lot of expressions that I would end my comic book columns with: Hang Loose, Face Front, ‘Nuff Said, and I found that the competition was always imitating them and using them. So, I said I’m going to get one expression that they’re not going to know what it means, and they won’t know how to spell it. And that’s where excelsior came from, and they never did take up on it, thank goodness.
As the man responsible for many of the superhero greats, Epic’s tribute to Lee in Fortnite is the perfect send-off and one that will no doubt spur players to seek victory just that little bit harder. For those yet to participate, everything you need to know about Fortnite‘s latest LTM, including its exclusive rewards, can be found by hitting their respective links.
Epic has yet to announce an end date to the event, though many stipulate that it’ll leave along with Season 8 in just a few weeks’ time. Watch this space.
