It’s hard to believe Stan Lee died a year ago today. It seems like only yesterday he was creating new stories and popping into new cameos in the MCU movies with that great, happy smile of his. Lee was an extraordinary man who led a full life. He contributed a lot to the world of comics, movies, games, and beyond. So, on this day, it seems fitting to write a post as a tribute to the great man and of the worlds he established in his life and the stories that will be set in motion long after his death.
“Stan the Man” and the Birth of Marvel Comics
Stan Lee’s full legal name is Stanley Martin Lieber and he was born in New York on December 20th, 1922. At a young age, he was a great writer, becoming an editorial assistant for Timely Comics at the age of 16. He later started writing comic scripts by 42 under the pseudonym Stan Lee that we all know him by today.
In 1961, he and Jack Kirby, one of the greatest comic book artists in history, helped launch Marvel comics and created The Fantastic Four together. This famous superhero team was a big hit and was just the start of the creation of many beloved and awesome superheroes to come from the mind of Stan Lee.
The dream team of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko brought to life many iconic characters, such as The X-Men, Avengers, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and, my personal favorite, The Amazing Spiderman!
In 1972, Marvel Comics had completely blown up and were taking the U.S. by storm with all these lively characters that were impacting readers with each turn of the page. At this time, Stan Lee became the publisher and, as the years went by, he became the very face of Marvel Comics.
After working nearly 60 years with Marvel, Lee decided to pursue other passion projects. He started up several different companies such as Stan Lee Entertainment and Pow! Entertainment where he continued to make new characters and stories. He continued to work in comics, but also started delving into animated series and movies where he and all his Marvel creations really started to hit the spotlight.
The X-Men (2000) and Spiderman (2002) movies were big hits at the box office and paved the way for more film adaptations of beloved superheroes, such as The Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Daredevil. Once Disney bought Marvel Comics in 2009, Marvel characters, both popular and lesser known, exploded with popularity on the big screen with the launch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A small comic studio in the 60’s became the biggest goliath in entertainment and it all started with the legendary Stan Lee!
The Greater Meaning Behind it All
One of the things I love about Stan Lee, is that he creates characters that are very relatable to real life experiences. Awesome powers like turning into a green goliath or super stretching your limbs are great and all, but they don’t really mean all that much unless you have meaningful characters behind those powers. Lee made sure that all the characters he created with artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko leaned on important themes.
The X-Men addresses racism and bigotry towards people who are different from your typical human being by possessing powers they don’t understand. The Incredible Hulk explores a timid scientist who unlocks a deep inner beast of rage in which he can’t control and shows the effects of what an unchecked temper can have on a person. Spiderman is a shy nerdy kid who is treated like an outcast in highschool who has to come to grips with real life issues such as pride, consequences, and responsibility.
All of these themes are issues that people suffer through everyday. Lee wanted to build a world that was parallel to the real world we all live in today. While the characters might be fictional, the problems that these characters face and the settings in which their stories take place all happen in the real world.
Lee also pushed for his characters to have an impact without the gadgets and spandex on. He wanted to develop his characters to have flaws, but also strengths that no superpowers or fancy tech could replicate. Spiderman has an innate desire to help people no matter when and where they’re needed. Captain America fights for his country no matter the cost. Charles Xavier wholeheartedly believes co-existence between two seemingly polar opposite groups of people is possible and should be achieved, so he built a school to help disgruntled teens understand themselves and teach this philosophy to them.
Even if these iconic characters didn’t have any super powers, they would still be able to make an impact on the world. I think at the end of the day the super powers, the martial arts, the high tech, all of those things that make a superhero are all just tools that Stan Lee used to show that the true hero is inside all of us normal everyday people. He wanted to show that we all have the power within ourselves to address issues like racism, bigotry, bullying, mental illness, and more.
Stan Lee had a popular catchphrase that he would use as a signoff for his comics, “Excelsior!,” which means “ever upward.” It was a motto for his life, always striving to continue to push the limits and go higher than he was both in his own life and in his comic characters, but I believe it was also a call to action for his readers to always go higher in their own lives and pursue greatness not just for ourselves, but also for the world around us.
A MARVELous Passion
Stan Lee loved creating characters and worlds in which fans of Marvel could explore and he poured an immense amount of passion to every inch of the universe he helped create. He had a genuine love for the Marvel universe. He loved it so much that he built his life like it was his own comic book story having a flair for the dramatic and wanted a direct connection to the characters he created. One of the ways he expressed this passion was through his cameos.
Stan Lee’s cameos were a real treat to fans and he made sure to make an appearance in every Marvel movie that showcased a Marvel character that he helped create. Lee wanted all his characters to be personal and there’s nothing more personal than having the creator of these great characters showing up right alongside them!
His cameos were simple at first and were easy to miss if you weren’t paying attention, but, as the years went on and the Marvel brand grew, he made sure his roles were impossible to miss. Lee always had a heart for theater and he always wanted to be an actor. However, with being a writer for Timely comics and launching Marvel Comics, he didn’t have a lot of opportunities for acting. However, once companies like Fox, Sony, and Disney started making live-action films for his characters he saw an opportunity to make his appearance on the big screen.
Even though his roles were short cameos, his presence was welcomed by all and he was able to fulfill two dreams simultaneously; his dream of being an actor and his dream of expanding the Marvel universe.
Stan Lee has to be one of the most passionate people I know of in the world. He wanted Marvel to be a success and impact readers and he did everything in his power to make that happen. Even when Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy, he trusted his creation to Disney to continue the franchise in ways his studio could never do on their own.
Most people would bury their franchise with them than to give it up to another company. While Marvel was Lee’s baby, he created this universe for everyone to enjoy and was bigger than himself, so he entrusted Disney to carry on the Marvel legacy with him. Which, turned out to be a great decision, as Marvel stopped become a nerdy niche obsession and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon through the Marvel Cinematic Universe that garnered old and new fans alike. Lee worked tirelessly to make sure Marvel had a place for everyone and I believe he accomplished that.
A Cameo-less Future
Stan Lee’s last live-action cameo was in Avenger’s Endgame, which is fitting considering how the movie ended. However, it will still be sad to not see him make an appearance anymore in future Marvel films. Some of the best moments in Marvel movies was seeing Stan interacting with the characters he created. It made fans feel like he was a part of the universe as well and in the end I think he was.
While there will be no more Stan Lee cameos, the universe that he left the world will only continue to grow and prosper. It’s thanks to Stan Lee and the creative minds at Marvel that people all over the world are able to rejoice in their favorite characters and feel a part of something bigger.
Marvel has created a huge community in which fans can have meaningful conversations and friendships with. It has helped create a new form of entertainment through the MCU, bigger than anything that has ever been accomplished before. It has curbed depression, loneliness, and suicide by providing outlets of hope for people in need through relatable characters and worlds.
The full extent of the impact Marvel has and will continue to have on the world is incomprehensible. Lee died at 95 and through most of that long and prosperous life he poured so much energy and so much life into Marvel, so it could not only be a great form of entertainment but a beacon of hope to many longing fans out there in the world.
I wholeheartedly believe God blessed the world through Stan and the world he and so many other great minds helped create and nurture to impact the lives of millions. Stan wanted Marvel to be a family and a place for real change to happen in the real world. He was a man of equality, change, and opportunity and he poured those same great virtues into his stories and characters wanting to start a spark in many people’s hearts.
Lee would often call fans of Marvel “true believers” because they had faith in Marvel being a new beginning for all, no matter who they are or where they came from. That is what Marvel truly stands for. Not the flashy costumes or the ability to stick to walls, but a place of hope and prosperity.
Lee was the greatest true believer out of all of us and he is dearly missed a year later and will be missed for longer still. His legacy will carry on, but it’s up to us to carry up the mantle that Marvel represents and go higher and upward. Excelsior!
Dean Willms
Gamer. Designer. Friend
Check out this short video that is Stan Lee's final message to all the true believers out there!
