×

Excelsior! Remembering the amazing, marvelous life of Stan Lee

Titus Welliver, from left, Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes and Bill Duke arrive at Excelsior! A Celebration of the Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible & Uncanny Life of Stan Lee on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019, at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Army bugler played a mournful “Taps” at a Hollywood memorial for Stan Lee, and military bagpipers sent a solemn “Amazing Grace” into the air.

Standing respectfully around them was another group in its own impeccable uniforms: Lee fans dressed as Black Panther, Wolverine and other members of the X-Men and Avengers.

It might have been a ridiculous scene at the TCL Chinese Theatre Wednesday night had it not been a perfect encapsulation of the life of Lee, a World War II veteran who wanted to become a serious writer and instead grudgingly took a job in comic books, becoming the mastermind behind Marvel Comics and co-creator of many of the best known and most lucrative characters of the last century.

“This was a guy who spent his life dreaming of writing the great American novel, and he didn’t realize he was doing it, over and over and over again,” said the night’s host, filmmaker Kevin Smith, a friend and super-fan of Lee.

“The world didn’t need another ‘In Cold Blood.’ It needed Spider-Man.”

On a night that had more cheers than tears, hundreds of Marvel fans stood and paid tribute along with Lee’s colleagues, co-creators and friends outside the Hollywood Boulevard theater where he had put his hand and footprints in cement in a similar ceremony 18 months earlier. Lee died in December at age 95.

“Sometimes when I’m feeling sad or I’m upset I would think of Stan Lee and this wonderful universe he’s created,” said Lee fan Isaac Suarez, who was celebrating his 14th birthday.

“His soul lives on in every one of us, in every single comic and movie he’s put his life into.”

Tom DeSanto, who as producer of “X-Men” was among the first to find big-screen success with Lee’s characters, said he was astonished by Lee’s global reach.

“I’ve seen kids dressed up as “Spider-Man in Beijing, Boston and Barcelona,” DeSanto said.

Across the street was a billboard announcing that a movie whose characters started with Lee, “Black Panther,” had been nominated for six Academy Awards.

“That’s a triumph,” Smith said. “It’s a cherry on the top of an amazing, productive life.”

Smith called Lee “one of the best humans to ever walk the earth,” setting the tone for a night when no one would hold back in their superhero-worship.

Speakers and panelists would compare Lee to the pope, Jesus, and the shining light of the sun.

Mark Hammill, a friend of Lee who often worked alongside him doing voices on Marvel animation projects, was among the few to admit Lee had flaws.

“He wasn’t always nice,” Hammill said in a panel discussion.

“He’d give you shots. He could be acerbic.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today