| Stan Lee | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Movie | X-Men X-Men: The Last Stand |
Stanley Martin Lieber (28th December 1922-12th November 2018) was an American comic-book writer, editor, and publisher, who was formerly executive vice president and publisher of Marvel Comics.
Lee co-created Spider-Man, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Daredevil, Thor, the X-Men, and many other fictional characters, introducing a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. In addition, he challenged the comics' industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority, indirectly leading to it updating its policies. Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
He made many cameo apparances in many Marvel film and television projects. A few of these appearances were self-aware and sometimes referenced Lee's involvement in the creation of certain characters.
On 16 July 2017, Lee was named a Disney Legend, a hall of fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company.
- Served during WWII in the US Army Training Film Division, writing manuals, training films, slogans, and cartoons under the military classification of "playwright." Only nine men in the US Army were given that title.
Trivia[]
- Lee was raised in a Jewish family. In a 2002 survey of whether he believes in God, he stated, "Well, let me put it this way... (Pauses.) No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I really don't know. I just don't know"
- Married Joan Lee where on July 6, 2017, his wife of almost seventy years, died of complications from a stroke. She was 95 years old.
- His parents, Celia (Solomon) and Jacob/Jack A. Lieber, were Romanian Jewish immigrants.
Notes[]
- Often named his characters in alliterate patterns like Peter Parker and Sue Storm to help remember them.
- His characters are often ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances
- Despised the idea of sidekicks, which is why virtually none of the Marvel characters had them.
- He was awarded the 2008 American National Medal of the Arts for his services to comic books and production.
- He was often asked where he got the idea for his famous quote, "With great power comes great responsibility." He would reply with, "It just came to me.".
- Favorite childhood comic book hero was Flash Gordon.
- He has appeared in nine films with Chris Evans: Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).
- Has it written into his contract that he appears in any movie based upon a Marvel character that he is credited with. So far he has appeared as the Hot Dog Vendor in X-Men The Movie, Man in Fair in Spider-Man (2002), Old Man at Crossing in Daredevil (2003), Security Guard in Hulk (2003), Man Dodging Debris in Spider-Man 2 (2004), Willie Lumpkin in Fantastic Four (2005), Waterhose Man in X-Men: The Last Stand, Man in Times Square in Spider-Man 3 (2007), Rejected Wedding Guest in Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), the man whom Tony Stark mistakes for Hugh Hefner in Iron Man (2008) and an uncredited appearance as the man who drinks the soft drink contaminated with Bruce Banner's blood in The Incredible Hulk (2008). Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), where he appears as a U.S. Army general, is a partial exception; he did not create the character, but he created the character's signature move of throwing his shield in an early text story and was at least partially responsible for successfully reviving him in the 1960s as member of The Avengers.
- As of 2015, there are four X-Men films where Stan Lee doesn't appear in a cameo. They are X-Men 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past. When asked why he didn't appear since his presence would be expected. He usually responded "nobody asked me.".
- Due to his advancing age, it is said he already shot several cameos for upcoming movies. Just in case.
Quotes[]
- (re: why he changed his name to Stan Lee to begin with.) I felt someday I'd write the Great American Novel and I didn't want to use my real name on these silly little comics"
- The X-Men are basically just me being really lazy. If I said that their powers came from a mutation that would be it. I wouldn't have to explain it any further.
- (re: cameos in Marvel movies) If it's a Marvel movie, I'm there for it. Whenever a new movie comes out, I hope they'll have a spot for me. I get such a kick out of doing it. The fans seem to like it. I'm going to tell you a secret, here's the reason the movies make so much money: My cameo. A man takes a girl to the movie, right? They're watching the movie and they bend down to get some popcorn. In so doing, they miss my cameo. Now the movie ends, and they say, 'My God, we missed Stan's cameo!' So what do they do? They run to the box office and buy two more tickets and see it again. *That's* why the movies do so well, because of my cameos.