Stan Lee remembered as 'the happy huckster that comics needed'

Hugh Jackman, left, talks to the late Stan Lee in 2008 at San Diego Comic-Con International.

Nov. 12, 2018 1:15 PM PT

The death of comics legend Stan Lee has inspired memories from the comic-book universe and beyond on Monday as celebrities, fans and studio honchos alike remembered the man.

“No one has had more of an impact on my career and everything we do at Marvel Studios than Stan Lee,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige tweeted. “Stan leaves an extraordinary legacy that will outlive us all. Our thoughts are with his daughter, his family, and his millions of fans. #ThankYouStan #Excelsior!”

Hugh Jackman, who played Marvel’s Wolverine in a host of movies, remembered Lee as a creative genius.

“Stan Lee was a pioneering force in the superhero universe. I’m proud to have been a small part of his legacy and .... to have helped bring one of his characters to life,” Jackman tweeted.

“How many millions of us are indebted to this guy, none more so than me,” said Tom Holland, who plays Spider-Man, posting on Instagram. “The father of Marvel has made so many people so incredibly happy. What a life and what a thing to have achieved.”

“Captain America” actor Chris Evans remembered Lee as a singular talent, one who “provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy” for decades.

“Deadpool” star Ryan Reynolds said simply, “Damn... RIP Stan. Thanks for everything.”

On the other hand, Jim Lee, DC Entertainment’s chief creative officer, had a lengthy remembrance posted on Instagram.

“Stan Lee gave so much to so many, but to me, a shy, awkward kid — growing up as an immigrant in a strange, new world — Stan Lee gave me the greatest gift of all. He gave me a place to escape into — an endless, imaginative playground filled with the most amazing, fantastic and uncanny heroes ever,” he wrote in part, including (like so many did) a photo of himself with the comics legend. “And through these characters, Stan Lee gave me my childhood and showed me the value of being different.”

Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, said in a statement, “Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created. A super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world, Stan had the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect. The scale of his imagination was only exceeded by the size of his heart.”

Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, gave a nod to Lee’s creation of the Spider-Man character. “Original and genius are two very overused words in the world today, but Stan was both. Add irrepressible and irreplaceable, and you begin to describe the man. We have all lost a true superhero,” he said in a statement. “We will greatly miss our friendly neighborhood Stan Lee.”

“He was the happy huckster that comics needed,” author Neil Gaiman tweeted. “And he really did alliterate like that when you talked to him.”

Read on for more tributes to Stan Lee.