The brilliant Jim McLauchlin at Newsarama Some brilliant souls at Nerd Reactor was able to get Stan Lee to comment on the news that Secret Wars would make a big mixed up new pizza out of the Marvel Universe. And Stan was just fine with it.
““It’s probably good. Anything they do that’s unexpected and different usually captures the attention of the fans. People will want to follow it to see what happens and where it will lead. Marvel cannot keep doing the same stories over and over again. You always have to come up with new angles and new approaches to things. I think it’s probably a good idea. It sounds intriguing to me.”
“Of course I have an emotional attachment to the original Marvel Universe, because I was so involved in it,” he went on. “But that doesn’t mean I expect it to be that way forever. It might be better under this new approach. I’m eager to see what might happen.”
Do you hear that readers? This 92-year-old man who co-created the Marvel Universe is perfectly fine with it evolving and changing. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t remember co-creating any of it, or maybe because he didn’t actually co-create it or maybe he is just happy with being in every Marvel movie and doesn’t want to be a party pooper. Or maybe nothing is going to change and it’s just a set-up. But whatever the reason, when a nonagenarian shows more tolerance and acceptance for change than people half his age—which is still mid forties— you gotta think he’s on to something. Go Stan!
Oh yeah?! Well what does he know?!?!?!?!?!!! :)
Nerd Reactor is actually just recapping a Newsarama article in which McLaughlin talked to Lee about the announcement.
It’s Stan Lee. Whatever you come up, he will probably be okay with it!
Jack Kirby created it all!
Or maybe it’s because he knows it’s only comic books.
GRUMPY OLD TONY: I am dropping my Patreon support of the Beat. Because I’m just plain tired of Stan Lee bashing.
@Tony – I dont see anyone at the Beat bashing Lee?
For the reading impaired…
” Maybe it’s because he doesn’t remember co-creating any of it, or maybe because he didn’t actually co-create it or maybe he is just happy with being in every Marvel movie and doesn’t want to be a party pooper”
And I’m done.
Gosh, Tony. I’m hoping your remarks were as tongue-in-cheek as Hedi’s seemed to be. I think Stan would probably say all of that himself — and finish it off with one of his trademark laughs. (And then, he’d probably not remember he said it a month later. By his own admission, his memory isn’t the best.)
And if it was meant as a bit of needling, it’s not like kicking a homeless guy in the street. If someone wants to take a bit of a swing at Stan, I think he can take it. Stan won. He outlived his peers, he’s a millionaire many times over, he’s beloved around the world as the face of Marvel Comics and will be forever — heck, he even gets to have a cameo in every Marvel movie (how cool is that!) It’s impossible to bash Stan. You can’t bash a guy who’s that happy and successful! At this point, I don’t even think you can scuff him.
if stan lee doesn’t have a problem with what marvel is doing with his characters, that’s cool. it’s his perogative and I do not begrudge him his opinion. on the other hand stan doesn’t pay my weekly comic book bill, so if marvel turns this “event” into a total reboot like dc’s new 52, I will drop the marvel books the same way I dropped the dc books, but if this is just some tweaking and adjustments here and there in the marvel universe, i’ll probably stick around for the show.
Two points:
1) Stan knows his way around things and supports Marvel quite well. He took part in the “Captain America’s Dead” publicity, and is great at this kind of stuff.
2) Tony’s right. the comments come off as mean and snarky, not tongue in cheek. The Stan bashing is overplayed and annoying and sadly all too common for a guy who worked for Timely/Atlas as an editor for almost 30 years. He did a hell of a lot of work, and I’d like to see the guy be respected, not bashed.
I see my comment I meant to post earlier today got zapped somewhere, but…you know, I love Stan Lee, and I post about him here all the time. I’ve been around him a few times in recent years and the man’s zest for life and gracious nature are…infectious. I hope I’m 1/3rd as engaged with life when I’m 60 and 70, let alone 80 and 90 if I’m so lucky. And his contributions to the comics medium, even if just as the greatest marketer in comics history, are also ineradicable.
That said, he will always remain a controversial figure, like most great men and women. And some will come down on one side, some on the other. Stan is occasionally asked about some of these matters, and he answers them as directly as possible. HOWEVER, he does have a horrible memory and always did. So that’s fair game!
I think in my above comments I was anticipating all the usual knocks against Stan. If that came off as snarky, so be it. Tony is a grown man of high character and can give and take his support as he sees fit.
So now Pope Tony Isabella wants us to add Stan Lee to the list of people we can’t criticize? I guess he is a holy person in the comic book industry, but lighten up Tony Isabella!
I friggin’ love Stan Lee, and I read it as a ribbing joke more than a jab, for what it’s worth.
But to Heidi’s (and Stan’s) point, I love that the guy who helped construct a huge part of the tapestry of a universe of heroes I adore is alright saying “Yeah, I’m sure it will be different. Probably should be, eh?”
From a Mark Millar interview in AV Club:
“I interviewed Stan Lee three or four years ago for a magazine, and Stan’s like my hero. I was interviewing him, and he just brought up in the middle of it, he said, “What is wrong with you guys?” And I was like, “What do you mean?” He said, “Why do you want to do my characters instead of creating your own?” I was like, “That’s quite an interesting point, and I hadn’t really thought about it. I didn’t get into comics to create characters; I got into comics to write Superman or Spider-Man and all that kind of stuff.” And he says, “I grew up reading Tarzan and Superman and Batman, but I went off and created Spider-Man and the Hulk. Why do you want to play with the old toys?” It was a real moment for me. I just thought, “Shit. In pop-culture terms, how weird would it be if I was to reject all the characters?” That’s a gap in the market, essentially. ”
http://www.avclub.com/article/mark-millar-40126
Terrible headline. It’s not a reboot.
gee, someone who’s on the Marvel payroll and royalty train isn’t unhappy with stuff Marvel does …
Stop the presses!
What Hufnagel0 said. Heidi’s remarks are nothing next to the geniuses who state categorically that Stan created nothing, even though none of them were around taking notes at the time.
Here’s my thoughts on some of the aspects of Stan’s statements:
http://arche-arc.blogspot.com/2015/01/creative-differentiations.html
Comments are closed.