‘Aquaman’ Director James Wan Remembers Stan Lee

Today the world lost Stan Lee, the co-creator of the Marvel Universe and many of its most memorable characters.

Aquaman director James Wan took a moment to remember Lee on Twitter following the legendary creator’s passing.

“Awww man, heartbreaking,” Wan tweeted. “R.I.P. to a true pioneer and legend. My youth wouldn’t have been the same without him. So grateful to have met the guy, and told him how thankful I was for his work.”

Lee was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from his home in Hollywood Hills early Monday morning. He died at the hospital later the same day. No cause of death has been named as of yet, but Lee has recently been stricken with a number of illnesses, including a bout of pneumonia. He was 95 years old.

Born Stanley Martin Lieber, Lee began working in comics in 1939, back when Marvel Comics was still Timely Comics but rose to prominence in the 1960s. He collaborated with Jack Kirby to create the Fantastic Four and birth the Marvel Universe as we know it, and with Steve Ditko to create Spider-Man and redefine what a superhero could be. From there, he helped create some of the most popular comic book, TV, a film characters ever, including the X-Men, the Avengers, Black Panther, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and Daredevil.

In an interview with ComicBook.com in 2015, Lee reflected on how he could never have expected his comics would spawn a multi-billion dollar franchise.

“No, no, years ago when I was doing these comics, we’d give the comic books away free to people,” Lee said. “The printer would send us a lot of comics, more than we needed. A guy would come up to deliver sandwiches from the drug store. We’d say, ‘On your way out, you want to take these books with you?’ We would even give out original art work, we never though it would be worth anything! It’s changed.”

Lee’s wife of 70 years, Joan, died in 2017. He is survived by his daughter, JC.

“My father loved all of his fans. He was the greatest, most decent man,” JC said following Lee’s death.

Stan Lee has become known for his cameo appearances in film and television series based on his creations, beginning with X-Men in 200. His latest cameo in a Marvel film was in October’s Venom. He even expanded his cameo range into a DC Comics film with a voice cameo in the Teen Titans GO! To the Movies animated film.

Fans have been pouring out their appreciation for Stan “the Man” since the news broke. Other creators from Marvel Comics and around the comics and entertainment industries continue to voice their feelings about the seminal creator.