Comics fans both famous and not are tipping their hats to Stan Lee, who would have turned 100 years old Wednesday.
The man who created, or co-created, enduring characters including Spider-Man, Black Panther, Iron Man, The X-Men and Doctor Strange died at 95 in 2018.
And while the last of Lee's beloved Marvel movie cameos was in the 2019 blockbuster Avengers: Endgame, his legacy lives on: Marvel Studios is gearing up to finally launch into the Marvel Cinematic Universe one of Lee's most famous super-teams, The Fantastic Four, which he created with fellow comics visionary Jack Kirby back in 1961.
In 2012, Lee told ABC Audio that his "crowning moment" was creating Spider-Man. Having awkward teen Peter Parker become a superhero — and not relegated to a sidekick — was groundbreaking. He explained why: "Because, my publisher ... when I told him the idea, he hated it. Hated it. So we had a book we were going to kill. And when you're gonna kill a book, nobody cares what you put in the last issue ... So I put Spider-Man in it and put him on the cover. And the book sold like crazy!"
Among those hailing Lee online Wednesday with #StanLee100 were Guardians of the Galaxy franchise writer-director James Gunn. The filmmaker turned guardian of Warner Bros. DC Comics characters posted several pictures of himself with Lee, saying, "You are missed, my friend."