Amidst our mourning of the recent passing of the larger-than-life comic book icon, today should be one of celebration of Stan Lee's marvelous life, imagination, and energetic personality that he's remembered for. Stan the Man was born on December 28 in 1922, so he would have been 96 years young on this day.
Marvel Studios took to Twitter this morning to remember Stan Lee on this bittersweet birthday and encourage fans to do the same. Take a look:
The sweet little tribute includes an impressive sketch of the legend that perfectly catches his essence as the wise, friendly and exuberant Marvel character co-creator we knew and loved. The tweet has gone viral with over some hundred-thousand retweets, likes and comments -- including gifs, pictures, artwork of the man himself and tons of "thank yous."
Stan Lee died on November 12, sparking touching memorials of all kinds to remember him by and honor his incredible legacy. The comic book writer co-created some of the most iconic superheroes ever known such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four.
His characters are deeply embedded in popular culture, and have remained relevant for over their 60-year history. Stan Lee is also a relevant figure himself, as he frequently appeared in cameos in film and television since 1989 in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. When the MCU started up with 2008's Iron Man, looking out for a Stan Lee cameo was a common occurrence for Marvel fans, as the Avengers were introduced in origin films and the team formed.
Following his passing, Stan Lee has already returned to the screen in three film releases in different ways. In Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet, Vanellope has a brief run-in with Stan Lee while passing through an area of the internet full of Disney, Marvel and Star Wars characters.
In the recent PG-13 re-release of Deadpool 2 called Once Upon a Deadpool, there was a touching post-credit scene tribute to Stan Lee including interview footage of him discussing his legacy. The most poignant cameo has to be in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where Lee has a voice cameo and speaks to Miles Morales about how he will miss Spider-Man.
Stan Lee still has some additional cameos in unreleased Marvel films that have yet to be seen --presumably in the upcoming Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. The public figures reappearances in and out of the MCU certainly make fans feel like he's a superhero in the universe as well, and his legacy as the cameo king will also live on, along with his memorable characters that have affected and touched so many.
Marvel fans, bust out your old comic books and Marvel films and remember Stan "the Man" Lee on his birthday... Excelsior!
