In a game brimming with pop culture references and memorials to real world people, it was only a matter of time before World of Warcraft paid respects to one of Marvel's most beloved creators.

A new NPC named Stanley was recently spotted roaming the streets and corridors of Stormwind Keep, and he bears a striking resemblance to Stan Lee, the comic book legend who passed away last November at age 95. The character was spotted by Twitter user Bas Schouten, who stumbled upon Stanley while exploring the newly released patch 8.1.5 on the World of Warcraft Public Test Realm.

Aside from looking like him, Stanley also occasionally waves at other NPCs, shouting: "Excelsior!" Many might recognize this as a favorite catchphrase of the real Stan Lee. For those who want to see the character in-game, be sure check out the video posted by Wowhead.

Interestingly, there are two more models of Stanley in the game, one of which is donning Horde gear, so the tribute may also be found in Orgrimmar at some point.

This is just one of several tributes found in World of Wacraft. After the passing of actor and comedian Robin Williams, a petition was started by fans, urging Blizzard to immortalize him in-game.

The studio responded, adding a tribute to Robin Williams in the form of an item known as the Ever Burning Lamp, which can be found on an island off the coast of Talador. Upon rubbing the lamp, a djinn appears, exclaiming, "PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!" After a short while, he'll begin to shrink, saying, "Itty bitty living space."

In other news, those longing for the early days of WoW will finally be able to do so with World of Warcraft Classic, which was recently given a release window. After shutting down several classic servers made by fans, Blizzard decided to create its own version to appease the community. If vanilla World of Warcraft was more your cup of tea, or you just want to see what the game was like in the beginning, be sure to check out World of Warcraft Classic in summer 2019.

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is available now on PC and Mac.

Source: Eurogamer