Arts & EntertainmentMarvel

Hollywood Stars Pay Tribute to the ‘Pioneering Force’ That Was Marvel’s Stan Lee

By David Meyer

Tributes have been pouring in for comics legend Stan Lee, who died Monday.

Lee created or co-created a veritable pantheon of beloved superhero characters that populate the world’s most sprawling film and TV franchise, so there was no shortage of praise for the man from the stars of the Marvel universe.

Here’s Tom Holland, the latest actor to play Lee’s iconic Spider-Man.

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Here’s Evangeline Lilly, who plays the Wasp.

And here are Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. and Wolverine Hugh Jackman…

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As Jackman noted, Lee was a “pioneering force” in the comics business. That’s partly because of the humanity of his flawed superheroes—a point not lost on Mark Ruffalo, who plays a certain character with serious anger issues:

Jennifer Garner, who played the assassin Elektra Natchios in the little-loved 2003 adaptation of Daredevil and its spin-off Elektra, also noted that Lee was responsible for “making heroes out of women”—Lee’s female superheroes also include the mutant Jean Grey, Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman) and Natasha Romanova (Black Widow.)

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With great output comes great adulation—and, in Marvel’s case, a fortune to go with it. The movies based on Lee’s work have grossed many billions. Black Panther has taken $700 million at the box office, with Avenger: Infinity War and Marvel’s The Avengers not far behind at $679 million and $623 million respectively.

As such, the last word here goes to Marvel supremo Kevin Feige. Excelsior indeed.