Obituary: Stan Lee

The revolutionary writer, editor, publisher, and producer Stan Lee has died at the age of 95, on the 12th November 2018. His death is a loss that will be felt by many; as editor-in-chief, then publisher, and chairman of Marvel Comics, his work has been a huge part of the entertainment industry, and his stories and characters have touched the lives of millions.

His characters are renowned for their humanity – their flaws allow their stories to reach out across generations, inspiring and entertaining their fans. His works include Spider-Man, The Hulk, and Daredevil – all of which continue to be huge successes. He also created the ground-breaking Black Panther, containing the first black superhero in a mainstream US comic. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a world which has gripped audiences since it began.

Appearing in cameos at unexpected moments in Marvel films, the writer and producer has already filmed clips for the new Avengers 4, prior to his death. It is also rumoured that he may have already filmed clips for other upcoming Marvel projects, such as Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,  as well as the new X-Men films Dark Phoenix and New Mutants. Even after his death, we may be seeing more of him in the future.

Stan Lee’s life was filled with achievements. He won countless awards for his work, such as The Life Career Award, National Medal of Arts, and the Harvey Award – The Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement. He became editor of Martin Goodman’s Timely Comics, a comic magazine, at 18. He then went on to lead the  same company, which had become Marvel Comics, from a small business and publishing house to one of the largest multimedia corporations in the world. The top grossing superhero film of all time, Avengers: Infinity War, featured his characters and was set in the Marvel Universe that he created. Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger stated “A superhero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart.”

Despite all of his achievements and successes, Stan Lee’s biggest legacy will always be the the inspiration he gave to so many Marvel fans. The fictional world that he created gave people an escape from reality, and many fans will say that his stories and characters were a big part of their lives growing up.

He is a man that will be dearly missed, but never forgotten. As he often said, excelsior!