Players have been heading to the monument to pay respects to late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman
Developer Epic Games has added a Black Panther statue to Fortnite as part of its ongoing season of Marvel-themed content.
Now, players can head west of Misty Meadows to see the ‘Panther’s Prowl,’ a large monument with its own ambient music.
The addition of the Panther’s Prowl comes in the wake of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman’s death on August 28th after a four-year battle with colon cancer.
However, in a statement to Kotaku, Epic confirmed that the Panther’s Prowl was always planned to be added on September 1st. “As with the rest of the world, we were greatly saddened to learn of the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman,” said Epic in a statement. “The Black Panther monument arrived this morning as part of a previously-planned narrative for the new Chapter 2 – Season 4 season.”
Therefore, the Panther’s Prowl is actually the third Marvel-themed point of interest to recently be added to the Fortnite map, following Ant Man’s house and an X-Men prisoner transport vehicle.
Nonetheless, Panther’s Prowl is certainly going to go down as the most memorable monument to come out of the entire Marvel crossover event. That’s because Fortnite players have come together to pay their respects to Boseman by visiting the statue and posting pictures to social media.
Wholesome moment at the Black Panther monument from r/FortNiteBR
Beautiful Black Panther area in Fortnite 🖤
Rest in Power Chadwick Boseman 🙏#Fortnite #BlackPanther #gamer pic.twitter.com/k7ILuMbaDI— TeamBBB (@TeamBBB123) September 1, 2020
Classy touch by @FortniteGame #ChadwickBoseman #BlackPanther pic.twitter.com/52VaeykD90
— Vincent McCann 🇮🇪 (@VincentMcCann4) September 1, 2020
Me and @Malaikawright2 is paying our respect to The King of Black Panthers Chadwick Boseman #Fortnite #XboxShare #WakandaForever pic.twitter.com/5tmzTt1EPh
— BlixyGFX㋡✨ (@BlixyGFX) September 1, 2020
Beautiful work fortnite, respect. Rest in paradise chadwick boseman @FortniteGame pic.twitter.com/9YxYTjdAiz
— F/A Healer (@HeaIerr) September 1, 2020
Given the rotating nature of map changes to Fortnite, it’s unclear exactly how long the statue will remain in the game. Nonetheless, it’s nice to see how players are using it to honour a beloved actor.
It’s also worth noting that Epic isn’t the only game company making Marvel content to address Boseman’s passing this week.
Earlier today, Square Enix’s latest ‘Wartable’ presentation for Marvel’s Avengers opened with a tribute to the late actor. Additionally, it appears that Black Panther was set to be revealed as one of the game’s free post-launch playable characters, as Square Enix showed a Black Panther logo alongside confirmation that some of the stream’s content was adjusted in response to Boseman’s passing.
Image credit: Reddit — u/Satisfaction_More