Stan Lee

Excelsior!

We also learned just who is responsible for all of Stan’s cameos — and it wasn’t Stan Lee.

Yesterday the comic book world lost an icon with the passing of Stan Lee. As you know, Lee was the co-creator of Spider-Man, one of the biggest superheroes of all time. For fun, I decided to take a look to see what the most valuable Spider-Man comic books are.

It became a running gag in Marvel movies and TV shows that Stan Lee would pop up at any moment.

Some of Hollywood’s biggest names saluted the Man online.

The man responsible for Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Panther and many more is reportedly dead at the age of 95.

“Stan the Man” was the face of Marvel for decades.

There wouldn’t be a Marvel without the artist who created Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with Stan Lee.

A lengthy new report dives into the messy saga around control of Stan Lee’s estate and details of physical elder abuse.

“I think that Marvel and Spidey and I have the best group of fans that any group in the world ever had, and I sure appreciate it,” he said.

A big part of every D23 convention is the Disney Legends Awards, where the company honors its own, celebrating artists and executives who have made major contributions to the Walt Disney Company. This year’s honorees include Oprah Winfrey, Mark Hamill, and the late Carrie Fisher. The Marvel portion of the event honored two of the comics company’s most important creators: Writer and editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Kirby passed away in 1994, so his son accepted his award on his behalf, but Stan “The Man” was on hand to accept his Disney Legends honor. He gave a great speech, and a very emotional one as well.

The Hollywood Reporter recently unearthed a vintage interview with comics giant Stan Lee from back in 1977, and on the occasion of Spider-Man: Homecoming’s release, they’ve decided to share some of its contents with the public. And if I may editorialize for a moment, it’s the single most relatable, humanizing media appearance the famously camera-friendly Lee has ever done. Because the unearthed truth of this Q&A is that Stan Lee did exactly what I would do — what any of us would do, really — if I was the head of Marvel Comics during the ‘70s: mess with DC all the time.

Stan Lee shows up in just about every Marvel movie. Now he’s starting to show up in commercials too.

A handful of Super Bowl ads have already landed online ahead of this Sunday’s big game — it’s the usual mix of TV spots for upcoming movies like Ghost in the Shell and Transformers: The Last Knight, along with a few ads featuring familiar faces like Gal Gadot and John Malkovich promoting businesses and collecting paychecks. And then there’s Honda. Like others, their ad for this year’s Super Bowl also features several beloved celebs, but there’s something kind of unnerving about the execution.

For decades, Marvel has benefited greatly from having Stan Lee as the unofficial ambassador of all things comic book-related. Over the past few years, though, director James Gunn has given Lee a run for his money with his (relative) candor about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the challenge of keeping the characters and mythology of the comic books all in a row. When Lee is finally ready to hang up his Marvel hat, Gunn might be the obvious chose to succeed him as the creative face of the company. And that makes the two of them working together on Lee’s MCU cameos just about the perfect match.

The fact that Stan Lee is guaranteed to appear in nearly every single Marvel movie is one of those small little charms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I hope never goes away. Sure, some people probably view it as an annoying break in the fourth wall, but it also reminds audiences that we are watching a superhero comic book movie. These movies don’t need to choose between being cartoonish and deadly serious; they can be both, often at the same time, and Stan Lee always helps drive that point home.

Stan Lee received his well-earned star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday a week after his 88th birthday. Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man, The Hulk, and other classic Marvel comic book characters received the 2,428th star on the Hollywood landmark.