(Image source from: hollywoodreporter.com)
Stan Lee, the former editor in chief of Marvel Comics who dreamed-up Spider-Man, Iron Man, Iron Man, the Hulk, and the Black Panther, has died at the age of 95.
Lee's daughter JC Lee confirmed the death to Reuters.
"Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. 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," said Bob Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney, said in a statement.
TMZ, which first reported news of his death, said an ambulance was called to Lee's Hollywood Hills home on Monday and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Raised in the Bronx in New York, Lee's career in comics began at Timely Comics wherein 1941 he penned a story in the May issue of "Captain America Comics #3" titled "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge". As Lee's career at Timely grew, the company morphed into Atlas Comics and then into Marvel Comics.
Lee and Jack Kirby, Marvel's prolific writer-artist duo, were widely credited with enriching comics by introducing fans to heroes that were flawed and for addressing issues like drugs and the Vietnam war. Indeed, the Black Panther first cropped up in 1966 during the Civil rights movement in the U.S. Kirby died in 1994. While he created a legendary cast of characters, Lee never owned the ones he dreamt up at Marvel.
Lee's Marvel characters helped drum up billions and have dominated the 21st-century box office since the release of Iron Man in 2008. Disney snapped up Marvel for $4bn in 2009. The company's film adaptation of "Black Panther", which was released earlier this year, generated more than $1bn at the box office worldwide and is the third-highest grossing film in the United States history.
Tributes poured in for Lee, who made cameos in the Marvel movies.
Chris Evans, who plays the titular character in Captain America, tweeted: "There will never be another Stan Lee. For decades he provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship, and joy. He exuded love and kindness and will leave an indelible mark on so, so, so many lives. Excelsior!!"
"Original and genius are two very overused words in the world today, but Stan was both. Add irrepressible and irreplaceable, and you begin to describe the man," said Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman. "We have all lost a true superhero. We will greatly miss our friendly neighborhood, Stan Lee."
-Sowmya
