In the vast world of pop culture, Stan Lee has left behind one of the biggest legacies when he passed away last night. The founder of Marvel comics, Stan Lee has created many characters – both superheroes and villains alike – that we all grew up with.
Not only did he build one of the biggest fandom (or many huge fandoms) around, he also helped writers and comic artists bridge the gap between them and their fans. He put his name and his collaborators right there in the letter columns so that fans could interact and actually talk to the people behind their favourite stories.
And who can forget his cameos? The man himself has made many appearances in the many Marvel movies over the years – it’s almost like a guaranteed Easter egg. He’s appeared as a hotdog vendor, a security guard, himself and even as a Man In Times Square (his credits, not our words). We’re adding part-time actor to his long list of accomplishments too.
As a little tribute to him, here are 10 of our favourite iconic superheroes and villains that we grew up with. We’re pretty sure that he will still live on, in some way or other through all these characters.
SPIDERMAN
We’ve seen 3 different actors bring Spiderman to life in the past 20 years alone. A geeky teenager, Peter Parker became a superhero after an accident with a radioactive spider, who then has to navigate all the villain battling all by himself.
We’re not sure what it is – whether it’s his super relatable flaw of his desire to just let things happen as they may without his intervention or him making the worst jokes at the most inappropriate times – but Spiderman is arguably Marvel’s and Stan’s most popular character to date. Maybe it’s because Spiderman is just your everyday working class boy who started out as a pizza delivery boy, and if he can become a superhero, maybe any of us can too.
And who can forget all the hilarious Spidey memes that will never get old.
BLACK PANTHER
T’Challa, who goes by Black Panther as his superhero name, is the protector and king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. And even though there are countless superheroes from who knows where, Black Panther is one of the few rare black superheroes – a symbol of pride, hope and anti-racism. He gets his powers like super-human senses, strength and healing powers from ancient Wakandan rituals.
And no thanks to the Black Panther movie released earlier this year, the hero has certainly catapulted into everyone’s good books. Even though Wakanda is a completely fictional country, the country puts Africa in a more positive light where despite all its problems, Wakanda is more technologically advanced than most other first-world countries.
ANT-MAN
It’s tough to compare someone the size of an ant to other giant superheroes like the Hulk and Thor, but Ant-Man holds his own. He has his own kind of heroics which make him a useful member of any superhero team even though he might not be the strongest or the biggest.
The alias Ant-Man has been taken by various characters, but the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym, was a genius. He’s even better than the self-proclaimed genius Tony Stark as he doesn’t just solve problems, he uses technology to do everything from shrinking size and hopping dimensions. Oh, and he can control and talk to insects too with his helmet, which do come in handy when fighting evil.
And if we’re talking about relatable characters, we’ll probably say that we totally understand Ant-Man because at heart he is his own worst enemy. He’s abusive even to his own loved ones and even managed to accidentally creat Ultron, a villain who just won’t stay dead. Guess that he (and the world) is constantly haunted by the mistakes of his past.
DOCTOR DOOM
Stan has also created many great villains as the antithesis to all his awesome superheroes, and Doctor Doom is probably one of the most sensational ones. In fact, we’ll even call him a super-villain. Doctor Victor von Doom is a dignified and megalomaniacal ruler of a small country who has a bit of an inferiority complex. He believes that only he alone is capable of ruling the country – a lil too altruistic in our opinion – and ends up in him working towards world domination.
Doom is pretty good at conquering countries (he even gave up control over the world once because he thought that having everyone obey him in fear was too boring), and is not just merely power hungry like fellow villain Loki, but more noble and majestic. And that’s just what makes Doctor Doom awesome as a villain, even as he’s fighting Reed Richards and the Avengers.
Fun fact: Doctor Doom is also part of the inspiration behind Darth Vader, so there’s that too.
NICK FURY
With his signature eye patch, he looks exactly like the kind of bad-ass, martial arts wielding fighter who somehow manages to pass off as a superhero. The best part is, Nick doesn’t have any special superpowers. He’s just a really, really good fighter. Until he transforms into The Unseen and gains cosmic awareness of various universes. As the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he holds his own pretty well against all the superhuman and paranormal threats.
IRON MAN
Another great genius played by one of the most sardonic and genius actors, Iron Man becomes a superhero thanks to his brains. Stan created Iron Man to explore Cold War themes, more specifically the use of technology to fight communism.
When it comes to superheroes who deserves their superpowers, Iron Man ranks high because he had to work for his powers. Compared to Thor who born a god with extraordinary powers or accidents like Daredevil and Spiderman, Tony Stark wasn’t just handed his powers by accident or luck – he studied robotics and became very good at it, and made himself powerful. And that’s pretty impressive, in our books.
THOR
The Thunder God from Asgard shares the same name as the Norse god, and Stan brings over a lot of his mythical powers into the fictional comic book world. Thor’s trusty weapon is his Mjolnir hammer, with which he can control lightning. Our favourite god is also a family man at heart and keeps giving his adoptive brother Loki numerous chances to redeem himself.
Even thought he’s a god and he’s kind of expected to be brave and courageous and all that jazz, there was a time where Thor was mortal and he still took on the Destroyer all by himself. He’s got some guts, and nothing, not even Ultron, seems to faze him. No one is as chill as Thor, seriously.
LOKI
As the antithesis to Thor, Loki is his evil opponent. Only family in name and not be blood, Loki is a victim of circumstance. Even though he has been adopted by Odin, he would be his favourite son because of Thor. And Stan keeps him complicated, sometimes even depicting him as an antihero.
Loki’s character is much more complex compared to Thor’s, and even though he’s bent on ruling Asgard himself, he still refuses to hurt his family. We aren’t even sure if Loki has ever truly redeemed himself, because it seems like only Thor is able to forgive him. PROFESSOR X
Gifted takes on another meaning when you’re talking about Professor X, also known as Charles Frances Xavier. The telepathic professor is the leader of the X-Men, a group of mutants who are just born with super powers (Stan was obviously tired of trying to explain where everyone’s powers came from).
Drawing inspiration from Martin Luther King during the civil rights struggle in the 1960s, Xavier has always been portrayed as a pacifist who believes that mutants and humans can coexist together peacefully. Stan has created such a complex character in the X-Men universe, where his actions often has a deeper context, whether its for the good of a person or a bigger consequence.
But just like every other character, Professor X has also done his fair share of terrible things as (let’s admit it), he is pretty dangerous with the abilities to read minds and move things with his mind. But we still think that he’s trying to do the best for all of mutant-kind and human-kind, as best as he can.
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