Stan Lee Clears Up Spider-Man Villain Rumor

Is one of the architects of the Marvel Universe, Stan Lee has no shortage of anecdotes or behind-the-scenes stories about the early days of the comics publisher. But a lot of rumors have become mixed up with the truth over the decades.

Lee addressed one such rumor during his spotlight panel at this weekend's Wizard World Nashville when a fan asked if the Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus was based off of singer Roy Orbison.

"No, no, I just dreamed him up," said Lee, prompting laughs from the crowd.

"I'm always looking for some animal or fish or bird that would make a good villain, so I had the Vulture" Lee added. "And Doc Ock, it occurred to me that an octopus with a lot of tentacles, that would be pretty scary. So that was all. It was as simple as that."

Orbison is a world famous singer and songwriter perhaps best known for "Oh, Pretty Woman," and he was a member of the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys alongside George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Lynne.

Lee went on to speak about the importance of the character's name, and managed to make yet another dig at the Distinguished Competition in the process.

"I like the name 'Doc Ock,'" Lee said. "See, the thing about our… competing company, I won't mention their name- well, they don't really compete. They never give their characters nickname. Like, they would call him 'Doctor Octopus.' But somehow 'Doc Ock' has a warm and tender feeling. It makes you care a little bit for him."

Doctor Octopus is one of Spider-Man's most recognizable villains and a fan-favorite character in the Marvel library. Otto Octavius is generally depicted as a tragic character, including his popular depiction on the big screen via actor Alfred Molina and director Sam Raimi in Spider-Man 2.

He even became the star of the comic series after sidelining Peter Parker and taking over his body, going on a somewhat heroic streak as the Superior Spider-Man.

After relinquishing control of Parker's body back to its rightful owner and being thought dead, Octavius returned as part of the Dead No More storyline and even became a member of Steve Rogers' Hydra-fied Avengers as the Superior Octopus.

Though he was defeated in his most recent efforts to ruin Parker's life once again, you can bet the classic villain will return soon.