Stan Lee dead at 95: Marvel co-creator's superheroes grossed billions at box office
Stan Lee, the co-creator of Marvel Comics and superheroes such as Spider-Man and X-Men, died Monday at age 95, TMZ reported.
Lee was reportedly rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital early Monday morning where he later passed away. He had faced several medical issues in recent months, including a bout of pneumonia earlier this year.
Lee’s superhero creations have been featured in some of the highest-grossing movies of all time, raking in billions of dollars. Popular Marvel films include “The Avengers” and its various sequels, “Black Panther” and “Iron Man.”
The Walt Disney Company bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in 2009. While no longer directly involved in the company’s creative process, Lee has made cameo appearances in every Marvel movie.
"Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. "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."
Lee has been involved in several legal battles surrounding the properties he created. He sued Marvel Entertainment in 2002 for unpaid royalties tied to the first “Spider-Man” movie, later receiving $10 million. He also sued POW! Entertainment, a media company he founded in 2001, for $1 billion, only to drop the lawsuit shortly thereafter, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
