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Stan Lee: Marvel’s First

For my last passion blog, I wanted to talk about the man who established the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and thus gave me the opportunity to write about the global impacts of movies and the lives of their actors. After graduating from high school at the age of 16, Stanley Martin Lieber was hired as an editorial assistant for Timely Comics, and in 1942 he was promoted to editor. It was during this time where he began writing comic strips under the name “Stan Lee”. This pseudonym eventually became his legal name.

 

In 1961 Lee and artist Jack Kirby created The Fantastic Four, about four astronauts who gain superpowers after a cosmic incident. The series made him and Atlas—now known as Marvel—major forces in the comics world. One year later Lee and artist Steve Ditko created Spider-Man. Lee, Kirby, and Ditko adopted a collaborative workflow that came to be known as “the Marvel method.” This method focused on giving artists more say in regards to story plots. By introducing more input, Marvel was able to produce new content. It led to the development of several series, most notably The Incredible Hulk and X-Men. After working for Marvel for nearly 60 years, Lee began to pursue other projects, and eventually his role at Marvel became that of chairman.

 

Given that Stan Lee played a large role in the stories that were seen on screen, it made it only right that he played a role in the movie itself. One of Marvel’s greatest easter eggs the common reappearance of Stan Lee as a quick cameo in each film. In the first “Thor” in 2011, Lee unsuccessfully tries to drag Thor’s hammer with his pickup truck. In “Captain America: The First Avenger” (2011), Lee plays a WWII general at a press conference for Cap. He also appeared in the first season of ABC’s “Agent Carter” alongside Tony’s dad, Howard Stark, in 2015. His final cameo appeared in Avengers: Endgame, when Tony and Cap go back in time to the United States military base. A fan theory that surfaced soon after was that old Steve Rogers was set to be played by Stan Lee, thus explaining all of his cameo appearances in every single past movie. 

On November 12, 2018, Stan Lee passed away. Marvel has grown from a comic book publisher to a multimedia empire that produces blockbuster films, TV series and video games, and Lee’s influence and imagination continue to be felt everywhere. “Comic books to me are like fairy tales for grown-ups”. This quote by Lee embodies his bright spirit, and reminds us of the true impact that these projects can have.