A Superhero In His Own Right
By: Peyton Schultze
Stan Lee, creator of many iconic Marvel superheroes such as Spider-Man, passed away in Los Angeles today at the age of 95.
Today, the world lost an entertainment icon as Stan Lee, Marvel’s most recognizable comic book writer, editor, publisher and former chairman, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 95. Serving as a multimedia platform representative for all things Marvel, Lee helped create iconic superheroes such as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, The X-Men, and Black Panther. In a day and age where the Marvel Cinematic Universe is as relevant as any film franchise, Lee was the creator behind so many million dollar characters that brought the adventures of his characters from the pages of a comic book to the big screen.
Lee, even in his late years, was still widely regarded as a pop culture icon, most notably for his cameos in almost all Marvel movies of the past 29 years.
While Lee will always certainly be remembered for his unique and awesome creations, his various outlooks on life helped shape the legacy he leaves behind. For example, in an interview in 2016 when launching the RESPECT Initiative, Lee said this:
“I have always included minority characters in my stories, often as heroes. We live in a diverse society-in fact, a diverse world, and we must learn to live in peace and with respect for each other. ”
Growing up in New York City and attending high school in the Bronx, Lee grew up wanting to be a musician, but found that he was good at writing and ended up getting a job at Timely Comics, which would later become Marvel Comics. Working his way up in the comic studio, his first co-creation was The Destroyer and helped make other characters such as Jack Frost and Father Time before entering the US Army in 1942. Upon return, Lee began to develop new characters with flaws, instead of perfect heroes that did not have real life problems. His first big creation with this model was the Fantastic Four, which hit it big for Marvel and gained huge popularity. Following this, Lee and his partner, Jack Kirby, started to create iconic characters such as Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, and of course, Spider-Man. These characters all shared the same comic book world to allow collaboration, which would come to a realization when Lee brought together the team known as The Avengers. Lee would later develop additional characters such as Black Panther, the Silver Surfer, and Doctor Strange, while developing new series and successful series such as The Amazing Spider-Man. Years following the huge success of Marvel comics, Marvel began developing movies such as Spider-Man (2002) and Hulk (2003), both Stan Lee’s creations. Later, in 2008, Iron Man, led by the direction of director, Jon Favreau, and actor, Robert Downey Jr., would kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe and spark another run of huge popularity for Lee and his creations. With the MCU developing all types of movies involving his characters and series, ranging from Thor and The Incredible Hulk to The Avengers, characters developed from the early days of Marvel Comics became Hollywood staples. Lee appeared in some kind of role as a quick cameo in every single one of those movies and became someone that kids and adults of all ages looked up to for his creativity.
Lee, pictured in a cameo from Captain America: Civil War
Lee will be missed not only as a Hollywood icon who was a driving force for one of the biggest brands in the film industry, but as a great man and a true pioneer of superhero comics. Excelsoir, Mr. Lee.