Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, Lee introduced dozens of characters in collaboration with artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko during his stint at Marvel Comics.
Stan Lee, the man credited with bringing in a new renaissance in comic books with his many flawed, relatable superheroes such as Spider-Man and Iron Man, has died after a lifetime spent in redrawing the boundaries of the literary genre.
Lee, who heralded a new pop culture in the US in early '60s with his complex and often morally twisted superhero characters, died early on Monday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922, Lee introduced dozens of characters in collaboration with artists such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko during his stint at Marvel Comics.
In his collaboration with Kirby, Lee co-created the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and the X-Men, characters who formed an instant connection with the young audiences due to their social relevance.
It was through his uncle, Robbie Solomon, that Lee started his career at the age of 17. He became an assistant at Timely Comics, which eventually became Marvel.
He adopted the pseudonym "Stan Lee" and started writing comic books. His first credit as a writer was a Captain America story in 1941.
When Timely editor Joe Simon and his creative partner Jack Kirby departed from the company in 1941, Lee was made interim editor by publisher Martin Goodman.
He served in the United States Army after enlisting in early 1942. He was a member of the Signal Corps, repairing telegraph poles and other communications equipment.
Seeing the rise of DC comics, a breath of fresh air in the world of comics, Goodman asked Lee to introduce a new superhero team. The result was Fantastic Four that he created in collaboration with Kirby.
The two afterwards would work on a number of characters. Their process was that Lee would come up with a short plot outline and Kirby then would design and illustrate a comic based on a mixture of that synopsis and his own ideas. Lee would return to fill in the dialogue and captions.
He also worked with artist Everett, creating Daredevil. Through his work with Ditko, Lee introduced the world to Doctor Strange and Marvel's most successful character, Spider-Man.
All these characters have now been turned into major film franchises that have earned Marvel billions of dollars in profits.
Lee left Marvel in 1972, but retained the title of chairman emeritus throughout his life. His fame and influence as the face of Marvel, even in his nonagenarian years, remained considerable.
Lee appeared in cameos in several Marvel movies, where he is often shown avoiding falling on concrete, watering his lawn, delivering the mail, crashing a wedding, playing a security guard or driving a school bus.
Many of them have been immortalised on the big and small screen, some of the actors becoming synonymous with their characters and ensuring that Disney will make more money over the years to rival the wealth of Wakanda. Here are the top 10 characters – created by Stan Lee – in celluloid form.
1. Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury
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The last scene of Infinity Wars ends with Nick Fury mouthing his trademark phrase ‘Moth********’. Despite his lack of superpowers, Fury forms an integral part of the MCU and it’s hard to imagine anyone else now doing justice to the character.
2. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
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We’d been through three Bruce Banners but none of them, with apologies to Eric Bana and Ed Norton, is as endearing as Mark Ruffalo. One half of the Science Bros when he’s sane – and one of the smartest people on the planet – his transformation into a rage monster is Kafkasque. Playing the Jekyll-Hyde character to perfection, he has given us some of the most memorable scenes in the MCU including the bout in Thor: Ragnarok. His riffs with Tony Stark is just amazing and their bond feels stronger than the one shared by Tony and Penny.
3. Charlie Cox as Daredevil
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The only Defender (technically still part of the MCU) to make that list, Charlie Cox has revived a character which had been sullied by Ben Affleck’s horrible portrayal in one of the worst superhero films ever made. It took years of therapy to erase the memories of Colin Farrell’s Bulls Eye.
Thankfully, the Netflix shows erased all that and gave us one of the most complex characters in the MCU who is always fighting the Devil within, hoping to reconcile his actions with his Catholicism.
4. Tom HIddleston as Loki
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Another thespian whose presence elevates the series, Hiddleston acts like he was born to play the God of Mischief. The perfect brainy foil to Chris Hemsworth’s brawn, Loki made evil look sexier than ever before. No matter how heinous his actions, one impish smile was enough to launch a thousand meme pages and forgive all his onscreen treachery.
Best Moment: His leap of sheer joy when Hulk smashes Thor in Ragnarok shouting: “That’s how it feels.”
5. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as Professor X and Magneto
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This was a tough one, given the convoluted timeline of the X-Men Universe but Professor X and Magneto become almost two sides of the same coin. Both were portrayed by different actors in the original and prequel shows, and their bromance defined the X-Men saga, Xavier's ability to forgive Magneto for murdering thousands, the only point that still remains steadfast in a bloated timeline.
The Charles VS Eric dynamic was the movie’s Malcolm X vs Martin Luther King Jr debate and it was obviously elevated by the real-life camaraderie shared by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, and their younger counterparts.
6. Chris Hemsworth as Thor
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Chris Hemsworth’s Thor probably wouldn’t have made the list if it hadn’t been Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok which perfectly captured the ethos of a Norse god created in the acid-tripping 60s. A pale shadow in the first few movies in the MCU, Ragnarok leap-frogged Thor to the front of the Marvel universe and cemented his place as one of its strongest characters, one that knew his own vulnerabilities and was willing to laugh at them.
7. Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange
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There was some controversy over Cumberbatch’s casting, with many demanding an Asian actor to play one with such oriental roots but Cumberbatch really bought his acting chops to the role. Marvel actually pushed the shooting by a year to get Cumberbatch on board and it was worth the wait. Another character born from probably too much acid, Strange looks likely to be the centrepiece of the MCU after Stark finally calls it a day.
8. Tobe Maguire as Spiderman
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This was a hard choice, given the trio of actors who’ve played the character. Tom Holland feels like the most comic-worthy Spiderman, a kid in an adult’s world with superpowers, full of glee and really not considering the consequences of his actions. Andrew Garfield on the other hand feels too cocky but it’s Tobey Maguire who feels perfect as Peter Parker, the webslinger who has to worry about everything – from paying rent to losing his girl.
Maguire’s Parker was the one envisioned by Stan Lee when creating Spiderman and he’s still one that makes the cut.
9. Hugh Jacked Man as Wolverine
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No actor, other than the next one in the list, has portrayed a superhero more times in a franchise. Hugh Jackman became synonymous with Wolverine even as he morphed into a Huge Jacked Man (so sorry) and a true Hollywood A-lister.
Despite being part of some real duds – looking at you The Wolverine – Logan became one of the most enduring characters of the X-Men franchise and the glue that held it together. Logan became the quintessential anti-hero in the bargain, a lost animal searching for meaning.
10. Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark
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The MCU started with Back in Black blasting on a speaker in Afghanistan as Tony Stark celebrated selling expensive equipment to the US Army . A die-hard capitalist and weapons designer created in the era of counter-cultural anti-Vietnam War protests, Tony Stark made science cool and also sculpted goatees.
The perfect match between role and actor, RDJ’s portrayal has made Iron Man the centrepiece of not just the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also the blueprint of how every superhero movie would be made, one that Marvel turned into a formula for printing money.
