'Wakanda forever': Fortnite players pay respect to Chadwick Boseman at Panther's Prowl statue

The latest season of Fortnite has come with a heavy dose of Marvel, adding various superhero skins, cosmetics and other collectables any Marvel fan would go crazy for.

Not only this, but there are also new Marvel-themed locations to land at and explore around the map, the most recent of which is the statue known as Panther's Prowl, which is in tribute to Black Panther.

The massive statue, which is located a little bit to the west of Misty Meadows, has arrived in the game mere days after the death of Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther in the most recent Marvel films.

The 43-year-old Black Panther star died of colon cancer on August 28, but Epic Games has clarified that the addition of the Panther's Prowl statue was planned and not in response to the death of Boseman.

“As with the rest of the world, we were greatly saddened to learn of the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman,” a rep said to Kotaku.

“The Black Panther monument arrived this morning as part of a previously-planned narrative for the new Chapter 2 Season 4 season.”

As you might expect, the statue is the epicentre for a lot of players who are using it to pay tribute to Boseman.

Clips and images have been shared online from Twitter to Reddit, showing people gathering at the location to pay their respects to the late star.

There are rumours going around at the moment that a special Black Panther skin will be added to Fortnite very soon.

The arrival of the Panther's Prowl statue in-game has fanned the flames of this rumour, making it seem like it would be incredibly likely.

One Fortnite data miner, Hypex, shared rumours of the statue's arrival before it was added and the next theory seems to be that the skin would appear in the in-game store with purchase proceeds going to charity.

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