Stan Lee, or Stanley Martin Lieber (b. Dec 28, 1922), can be said to be the author of the Bible of Superheroes.
Stan Lee first created their universe with a bang in the 60s, he molded them from the clay of artistry and imagination, breathed life into their make-believe characters in the pages and big screens, gave them a purpose for existence to fight evil vilians, and most important of all, he cursed them with human traits and personalities so that even possessing such incredible gifts of might, smarts and powers, they cannot escape from the universe of their own tormented conscience and flaws. (That finishing touch is truly the secret of his success).
Hugh Jackman said: “We’ve lost a creative genius. Stan Lee was a pioneering force in the superhero universe. I’m proud to have been a small part of his legacy.”
And that is ironically why he is so successful...because he had fulfilled our deepest desires to live vicariously through the contrived narrated lives of superhuman beings frantically trying to save the world out there, but at the same time, struggling with their own redemption and mortality.
If anything, Stan Lee was not just a dreamer but a builder; more specifically, a bridge builder. He bravely with vision and endearing empathy bridged the worlds for us, that is, the world of what we lack or crave, our current reality, and the world of what we can only dream of, our desired fantasy.
Honestly, think about all our flaws, inadequacies, and shortcomings, and Stan Lee had deftly created an alter-ego in an alternate universe in a very personable way to overcome most of them.
And what draws us in quite helplessly is that we can identify with each and every superhero on the screen. Think about it. Has there been anyone in the hall of justice that we cannot relate to?
Hulk? Mm...we all have anger issues and for some of us, we seriously need to manage it.
Spider-Man? Well, a teen ignored in school but finding super strength when stumbling in the middle of an experiment that has gone awry is the lego blocks of our pubescent aspiration.
And for the male macho adults, we have iron man and bat man. Tell me, frankly, who never dreamed of being a billionaire, philanthropist and a superhero all rolled into one glorious living legend?
How about the ladies? Well, Stan Lee has not forgotten about them. If one has to mix beauty, brains and kick-ass feminist power, you have black widow, “sue” the invisible girl, storm, scarlett witch, and captain marvel.
Mark Ruffalo said this of Stan Lee: “You let us be extra human...superhuman even. I am deeply honoured to have been a small part in the Stan Lee constellation.”
In real life, Stan Lee was not perfect. He was “often faulted for not adequately acknowledging the contributions of his illustrators, especially Jack Kirby and artist Steve Ditko”. They in fact had a fall out.
However, in 2014, “Marvel and the Kirby estate reached a settlement. Lee and Kirby now both receive credit on numerous screen productions based on their work.”
Personally, I don’t know much about Stan Lee’s life and I don’t pretend to know. But like everyone else, we have our skeletons in the closet. Some more dark than others. Some more crushing than others.
The searchlight into our closets is our own conscience. But at times, even the light of our conscience goes off or goes dim due to lack of willpower, resolve and direction.
That is why we need a leg up to give us hope. And that is where people like Stan Lee, PT Barnum, J.R.R Tolkien, CS Lewis, Stephen King and JK Rowling come in. They hold us up by the bootstraps, nudge us to stay focus on the road ahead, and keep us walking forward regardless of how dire our surrounding circumstances may be.
In fact, I used to think that Stan Lee was incredibly, super rich because of the royalties and licence fees and so on he would have collected from all his Marvel super characters.
As it stands, in the first decades of the 21st century, movies with his Marvel superheroes grossed more than US$20 billion at theatres worldwide. Black Panther alone hit US$1.34 billion.
But it reports that “in 2002, (Stan Lee) sued to claim his share, months after Spider-Man conquered movie theatres. In a legal settlement three years later, he received a US$10 million one-time payment.” Underscore “one-time payment”.
The report continued: “Some people assumed that, as a result, Lee’s wealth had soared. He disputed that.
”I don’t have US$200 million. I don’t have US$150 million. I don’t have US$100 million or anywhere near that,” Lee told Playboy magazine in 2014.Having grown up in the Great Depression, Lee added that he was “happy enough to get a nice pay cheque and be treated well””.
Lesson? Just two. First, I send my condolences to the family of Stan Lee. He had indeed lived an extraordinary life, most of it in his boundless imagination.
And second, I am always reminded that we all want to be remembered as ”superheroes” leaving a superhero-like legacy for our children and their children’s children. Some of us want to make history and leave a mark for aeons to come.
But I have come to realise that there is actually little difference between the fictional characters we admire and real life we cannot comprehend at times. The common thread that runs through them in all situations they/we face is how do we respond to what is before us.
While Superman has to contend with Kryptonite, Iron man with his ego, Batman with his past, and Dr Strange with millions of probable anxieties in the future, we have to confront our here and now.
Whatever powers they possessed, the problem they face is never resolved with a snap of the fingers. Even Thanos with his six stones secured has to face a part two akan datang next year, which will see to the sealing of his fate with the convergence of a concluding infinity war. My point? Mm...
Well, even in the greatest of superheroes in the Marvel universe, there is always an ordinary human struggle. And even in the most ordinary of humankind, there is always extraordinary strength that sees to our eventual overcoming.
What therefore defines us ultimately and eventually is not what superpowers we possess or crave after. It is on the contrary in the most unembellished, and most times, understated strength and virtues that we often find in a mother who loves unfailingly, a husband who keeps his marriage vows unconditionally, a friend who acts with honour and trust, an employer who treasures his employees above profit, and a leader who is prepared to sacrifice for his people.
And I earnestly believe people like Stan Lee bring the super-characters to life in comics and screens so as to remind mothers, fathers, spouses, friends, employers and leaders just that - that is, there is a superhero in all of us when we never give up, keep carrying on and live with joy, hope and love. Cheerz.
RIP Stan, your Marvel universe awaits...
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