The recently deceased comic-book legend was the first to make superheroes interesting.
New York City 2011, Stan Lee. Photo ByJohn Barrett/PhotoLink/MediaPunch/IPx
Superheroes have been around for a long time. Two of our modern-day heavyweights, Batman and Superman, made their debut in the late 1930’s. Our first sight of Captain America showed the superhero socking Hitler in the face – the man was punching Nazis long before the likes of Richard Spencer.
The legendary Stan Lee – who died Nov. 12 at age 95 – did not invent the caped crusader. He is, however, certainly responsible for their immense popularity and pop culture domination today. The “Holy Trinity” of superheroes, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, might be iconic, but they’re also incredibly dull characters. Imagine the three stuck in a room together – what do they have to talk about? What to do about the doomsday device implanted on the moon, perhaps.
None of those three characters are relatable in the slightest, because they are physically and mentally flawless. Batman never wastes a single microsecond of his time, while Superman makes Jesus look like a slacker. Who can relate to that?
The first heroes Stan Lee created for Marvel were the Fantastic Four, and they, along with their antagonist Doctor Doom, were groundbreaking, for one simple reason – they had first world problems. They had arguments, held grudges, and suffered from insecurities; they were just like us, despite being “gifted.”
Elated by the success of the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee pressed forward, creating The Incredible Hulk, a character whose superpower is unquestionably a burden, a damn heavy one, at that. The Thing preceded this interesting idea of the problematic superpower, and it was a concept Lee would push even further with the X-Men.
The X-Men aren’t just elevated by their superpowers – they’re marginalized by them. Mutants are heavily discriminated against by society, due to the shape of their DNA, meaning their stories provide apt metaphors for racism and homophobia – those claiming that political commentary has no place in comic books are ignoring the fact that these stories have always been brimming with social justice.
Spider-Man, supposedly Lee’s favorite creation (1962 in collaboration with artist Steve Ditko), might be the most “human” of them all. For Peter Parker doesn’t just suffer from the guilt of Uncle Ben’s unnecessary death, he’s also an outcast, bullied by his peers in high school, and by his employer.
Marvel’s diverse cast of superpowered personalities all share this relatability that the “Holy Trinity” lack; they are characters, rather than archetypes.
Think of the similarities between Batman and Iron Man – both represent the idealized American entrepreneur, running highly successful companies and inventing their own crime-fighting gadgets. Their success comes from sheer drive, rather than being infused with radiation.
Now, think: what’s the difference between the two? Well, Batman pretends to be a hedonistic playboy, in order to mask how ridiculously high-functioning he is, while Iron Man is genuinely plagued by alcoholism and egotism. Who would you rather have a conversation with?
Stan Lee changed the superhero genre forever by creating humans with superpowers, rather than superhumans. That’s a crucial distinction, and it’s exactly why The Avengers film enjoyed explosive success – when the dust settled from the alien invasion, the team didn’t fly back to headquarters to get briefed on the next global threat – they ordered shawarma, and ate it in silence.
Thank you, Stan Lee, for making us all feel like we could be the person under the mask.
I’m fascinated by storytelling, in all its myriad forms; mythology, fairy tales, films, television, and urban legends.
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