Marvel fans all over the globe are left grieving today as the iconic comic writer Stan Lee, who was behind the fictional superheroes such as Daredevil, X-Men and Spider-Man, has died at the age of 95. Not cause of death was revealed, however an ambulance was called to his Hollywood Hills home before he died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
“He felt an obligation to his fans to keep creating,” Lee’s daughter J.C. Lee said in a statement to Reuters. “He loved his life and he loved what he did for a living. His family loved him and his fans loved him. He was irreplaceable.” Lee was born at Manhattan’s Upper West Side in 1922.
Born Stanley Martin Lieber, Lee, together with artists like Kirby and Steve Ditko, revived the comics industry with his superheroes, building The Marvel Universe from comics to screen with an endless slew of TV and movie adaptations, as well as making enormous strides on pop culture.
Lee’s career started when he landed a job at a publishing house at age 17 where he began writing scripts for mystery and superhero comics. He then became the editor-in-chief at age 19 and spent the next 20 years giving a voice to his characters. He shot to fame in the ’60s when he wrote his first synopsis for artist Jack Kirby to follow.
He then took on a new role as publisher of Marvel Comics in 1972 after writing scripts for over thee decades. Lee incorporated his Marvel characters into newspaper strips, books and even graphic novels before moving to Los Angeles in 1980 to take a chance on the TV and film industry with his work.
After struggling to make it in the industry for years, Lee’s efforts took off with the 2000 blockbuster version of X-Men by Bryan Singer. The films in which Lee often makes cameos in, from Iron Man (2008) to Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), have now made a combined $17.6 billion at the box office.
Reports have also suggested that Lee had already recorded his cameo for Avengers 4. The film, which will mark the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is set to be released in May 2019. Below is a roundup of all the cameos he has ever made in his superhero films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnByuUqMeko