Fortnite debuted a new MCU-themed emote in anticipation of the franchise's latest big-screen effort. The ultra-popular multiplayer shooter has been no stranger to these collaborations, but this one is a wink and nod at longtime Marvel Studios fans.
A new MCU emote just dropped in Fortnite centered around Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova, harkening back to her appearance in Disney+'s Hawkeye series. Pugh's Marvel Studios character is set to have a leading role in the upcoming Thunderbolts* movie, and her in-game dance is the latest crossover between the two brands.
As spotted by Fortnite leaker HypeX, the Yelena Belova Fortnite emote is called the "Widow's Mac" and sees the in-game character (preferably Pugh's in-game White Widow skin) doing a superhero flip before spraying some hot sauce into a pot of macaroni and cheese.
This hot-as-a-chili-pepper dance is a callback to Yelena Belova's brief role in 2021's Hawkeye, in which she was seen enjoying a pot of the creamy, cheesy dorm room staple, spraying an ungodly amount of hot sauce into as she does.
The in-game cosmetic will debut before the end of April (it is rumored to be released on Wednesday, April 30). It will be available as an additional purchase in the Fortnite shop.
These sorts of Easter eggs have long made their way into Fortnite with various crossover emotes. Just look at the recently debuted new Darth Jar Jar skin coming to the game, which is a play on the long-running meme in the Star Wars community.
The arrival of this new emote is meant to coincide with Yelena Belova's return to the big screen in Thunderbolts*. The new MCU film is set to hit theaters on Friday, May 2. It tells the tale of a ragtag new superhero team made up of a bunch of super-powered misfits from across the Marvel Studios canon (e.g., Winter Solider, US Agent, and Red Guardian).
Directed by Beef's Jake Schreier, the comic book epic stars a cast of A-list MCU talent, including Florence Pugh, David Harbor, Lewis Pullman, and many more. Reviews for Thunderbolts* have been glowing so far, potentially hinting at Marvel Studios having yet another hit on its hands.
Marvel's Fortnite Easter Eggs Go Way Back
The new Hawkeye meme MCU mac and cheese emote is nowhere near the first Marvel Studios/Fortnite collaboration to embrace a small Easter egg like this.
Over the years, fans have gotten plenty of ways in the game to show off their MCU fandom, with various callbacks to specific moments from the super-powered film and TV franchise.
Take a look below at some of the other hilarious MCU Fortnite skins:
Dance Off
Of course, some of the best Fortnite emotes of all time have been based around iconic dances throughout history. So, it would make sense that one of the more rhythmically inclined MCU heroes got a dancing emote of his own.
The Star Lord-themed dancing emote is based on the dance that Chris Pratt's Guardian of the Galaxy does as a distraction when taking on the dastardly Ronan the Accuser in the first Guardians film, being a play on several classic dance moves like the robot and running man.
Snap
Fortnite's MCU Snap emote took one of the franchise's most devastating moments and turned it into a fan-favorite in-game cosmetic. The Snap is based on Thanos' snap with the Infinity Gauntlet that wiped out half of all existence at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.
The Snap emote debuted in 2018 and has reappeared in the in-game store more than a dozen times in the years since.
Zargnut Invisibility
Joining the Dance Off emote as one of Fortnite's many callbacks to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is the knee-slapping Zargnut Invisibility emote.
This particular cosmetic is a play on Drax's perceived invisibility when standing completely still during a tense moment from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, despite him slowly digging into a bag of crunchy Zargnuts every few seconds.
Potted Groot Dance
The Potted Groot Dance emote will have fans moving and grooving as the franchise's lovable living tree did at the end of the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.
It is based on the dance that the baby potted Groot did in the final moments of that movie, set to The Jackson 5's "One More Chance," and debuted in a March 2024 update to the in-game store.
Mischief Flip
Fans can express their inner God of Mischief with the Fortnite Mischief Flip emote. This cosmetic sees the player character flipping Loki's iconic daggers, wielding his chaos magic to transform them with every flip.
The Mischief Flip is based on Tom Hiddleston's dagger flip, which he performs in various MCU movies, particularly the Thor movies and the Loki TV series.
