How Stan Lee fashioned his superheroes as a counterpoint to DCs gods

Written by Kshitij Rawat | New Delhi | Published: November 13, 2018 1:22:11 am

Without Stan Lee, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers and indeed the highly profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe would not exist. (Photo credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

Stan Lee, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 95, was a comic-book legend who was responsible for creating some of the most iconic superheroes like Spider-man, Iron Man, Hulk that we read in comics and watch in TV shows and movies. Even in his 90s, the man was active and could be seen at events like Comic-Con and interacting with his fans. For non-readers, he was just a jolly old grandpa who makes tiny cameos in Marvel movies, but for comic-book readers, he was nothing short of a godfather.

DCs superheroes have always been godlike, especially the big three – Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Even Batman, who is just a human as opposed to others, is less accessible than most fictional characters. He is a brooding man with almost a single-minded obsession with crime-fighting.

Stan Lee wanted to do something different. He wanted to create superheroes who were vulnerable, who bled, who hurt, who were petulant, and had everyday problems, not just supervillains. Most of all, he wanted to give readers something to relate to. Lets face it. Superman might be awesome, but it is hard to relate to an all-powerful alien.

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Take Spider-man for example. His alter-ego is a teenager (or at least a young adult) who has problems every young person has. Girlfriend problems, assignments, studies, and whatnot. Stan Lee famously said about Superman, “He was never very interesting to me because I was never worried about him. And if youre not worried about the jam your hero is in, theres no excitement.”

Also Read | Stan Lee: The comic-book icon who created the superhero as we know it

While DC had fictional cities like Gotham and Metropolis for their superheroes, Stan Lees Spider-man was based in good-old Big Apple. Without Stan Lee, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avengers and indeed the highly profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe would not exist. Rest in peace, Stan Lee.