History Creator / StanLee

** ComicBook/PepperPotts

** ComicBook/SheHulk (with John Buscema)

* NonIndicativeName: The Marvel Method was really Stan Lee's method and wasn't used after he stepped down by later writers like Claremont and Conway who were quite insistent on their scripts being followed as they wanted, with the former butting heads with John Byrne who had expected and gotten used to the artist being the guy that called the shots.

* ComesGreatResponsibility: The TropeNamer.

** ComicBook/{{Iceman}}

* FanNickname: He's known as "Stan the Man" to his fans. Some movies he's been in, such as ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' and ''Film/{{Thor}}'', even credit him as such.
** Lee came up with many of the nicknames used for Marvel characters, such as "Web-Head" for Franchise/SpiderMan.

* The ComicBook/IncredibleHulk (with Jack Kirby)

** ComicBook/{{Medusa}} (with Jack Kirby)

His involvement in regular and active comics writing lasted from the late fifties to the early seventies. It was in that era, as per legend, during a time when Timely Comics was facing dire straits, that he teamed up with Creator/JackKirby and launched the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' pulling the company, and superhero comics in general, BackFromTheBrink, starting a run of creative outpouring that saw Marvel start small, gather steam and eventually become such a major brand that it started outselling Creator/DCComics who until then had enjoyed uncontested monopoly on the superhero genre, especially after Creator/ECComics was driven out of business by the Comics Code. As per his own interviews and biographical anecdotes, while Lee had worked in the comics business since TheForties, his real ambition was to be a serious writer (writing the UsefulNotes/GreatAmericanNovel in particular) and he largely saw comics as kids stuff and particularly looked down upon the superhero genre, which he described in the captions of ''Amazing Fantasy #15'' ([[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeDitko the debut of Spider-Man]]) as "long-underwear stories". He was 40 years old when he and Kirby launched ''Fantastic Four'' and was already feeling like a JadedWashout who didn't have much to show for his life. As such, in his entire time in the classic Marvel period, both in page and in person, he was insistent on making up for lost time. He did this by positioning Marvel as being different and better than DC, in a manner not dissimilar from Malcolm [=McLaren=]'s packaging of PunkRock and promotion of the Music/SexPistols. This also led him to position and differentiate his characters as apart from DC, which was aided by the GenreBusting sensibilities of Kirby and Ditko.

** ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManLeeDitko'' (The original run of Spider-Man)

His involvement in regular and active comics writing lasted from the late fifties to the early seventies. It was in that era, as per legend, during a time when Timely Comics was facing dire straits, that he teamed up with Creator/JackKirby and launched the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' pulling the company, and superhero comics in general, BackFromTheBrink, starting a run of creative outpouring that saw Marvel start small, gather steam and eventually become such a major brand that it started outselling Creator/DCComics who until then had enjoyed uncontested monopoly on the superhero genre, especially after Creator/ECComics was driven out of business by the Comics Code. As per his own interviews and biographical anecdotes, while Lee had worked in the comics business since TheForties, his real ambition was to be a serious writer (writing the UsefulNotes/GreatAmericanNovel in particular) and he largely saw comics as kids stuff and particularly looked down upon the superhero genre, which he described in the captions of ''Amazing Fantasy #15'' ([[ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan the debut of Spider-Man]]) as "long-underwear stories". He was 40 years old when he and Kirby launched ''Fantastic Four'' and was already feeling like a JadedWashout who didn't have much to show for his life. As such, in his entire time in the classic Marvel period, both in page and in person, he was insistent on making up for lost time. He did this by positioning Marvel as being different and better than DC, in a manner not dissimilar from Malcolm [=McLaren=]'s packaging of PunkRock and promotion of the Music/SexPistols. This also led him to position and differentiate his characters as apart from DC, which was aided by the GenreBusting sensibilities of Kirby and Ditko.

** ''ComicBook/LeeDitkoSpiderMan'' (The original run of Spider-Man)

*** Technically, Lee ''was'' able to play the role of Jameson, if only as one of his signature cameos and with a single line of dialogue in TheStinger of ''Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' [[spoiler:as the JJJ of Earth-61 trying to convince a cop to shoot both the Spider-Man of that Earth and Miguel O'Hara as he showed up during his attempt at interdimensional travel.]]

Stan "The Man" Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was a ComicBook writer, editor, "Chairman Emeritus" of Creator/MarvelComics, and creator or co-creator of just about all of Marvel's most recognizable characters, with the major exceptions being ComicBook/CaptainAmerica[[note]]Created by Joe Simon & Creator/JackKirby[[/note]], ComicBook/ThePunisher[[note]]Created by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru & John Romita Sr.[[/note]], and ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}[[note]]Created by Len Wein, John Romita Sr. & Roy Thomas[[/note]]. He is without question the greatest editor in the history of Marvel comics and certainly the most famous and influential figure in superhero comics storytelling, having a profile, brand, and name recognition comparable to that of his famous creations, to the point where many see ''him'', not Franchise/SpiderMan, as Marvel's unofficial mascot.

** ComicBook/JackKirbysFantasticFour (the original run of the Fantastic Four)

** He claimed to have originally created [[Characters/SpiderManDailyBugle J. Jonah Jameson]] so there would be a character he could play in an adaptation, which ended up never happening despite the numerous adaptations featuring him (and hey, J.K. Simmons played such a ''good'' JJJ).

** He claimed to have originally created [[Characters/SpiderManDailyBugle J. Jonah Jameson]] so there would be a character he could play in an adaptation, which ended up never happening despite the numerous adaptations featuring him (and hey, J.K. Simmons played such a ''good'' JJJ). [[spoiler:At least until ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' gave him a cameo as [[WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967 60s cartoon]] J. Jonah Jameson in TheStinger, though unfortunately the film wasn't released until after his death.]]

* SignatureStyle: The superhero's he has created are beloved by so many because they are a lot like real people which Stan Lee does on purpose to make them interesting and sympathetic.

** In his recent collab with ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'', he gave his views on how certain films should've ended. He then shows three more, each showing him interrupt Creator/GeorgeLucas while he's writing each of the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels, then tossing the script of each into the fireplace.

** ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}

** ComicBook/{{Beast|Marvel Comics}}

** ComicBook/JaneFoster

Lee was co-creator of many of these characters and few can deny that the general universal quality of Marvel and the coherence and sense of SharedUniverse from that era ("face front true believers", "Excelsior" and much PurpleProse) belongs to Lee and that he played a central role in making Marvel into the DC's major competitor, equal, and in the eyes of many of its most ardent fans, its superior. This is no mean feat considering that DC had a reputation for buying and swallowing all its competitors (such as Quality Comics, Creator/FawcettComics, and Creator/CharltonComics). For Marvel to not only resist but challenge DC, despite starting out with a weaker stable than its unfortunate peers was an incredible achievement. As an editor, Lee had a good sense of the zeitgeist, knowing that the teenagers of TheSixties were RebelliousRebel, college-going and in tune to anti-establishment attitudes, which he leaned into with his more flawed and relatable characters who were also constrained by society and other institutions. In spite of that, Lee was [[https://www.thedailybeast.com/rip-stan-lee-the-man-who-sold-the-world studiously apolitical]] in the pages of Marvel, and he avoided taking explicit anti-war stances on Vietnam (as opposed to Creator/JackKirby who protested it) while voicing general anti-racist statements in his letters' pages. Most notably after ''ComicBook/BlackPanther's'' first appearance, and the appearance of the Black Panther Party a few months later in an entirely unrelated coincidence, Lee briefly renamed the character "Black Leopard" to avoid association with the Party's more controversial statements and attitudes later. On the other hand, Lee played a major part in discrediting the authority of the Comics' Code as a result of the famous drug issue of ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' where Harry Osborn becomes an addict.

* SelfDeprecation: Many times. See {{Jerkass}} above. He also appeared in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where he acts like a CloudCuckoolander:

'''Comic Book Guy:''' Yes, yes. I just wish you had the power to leave my store.

'''Stan:''' He can't be the Hulk! ''I'M'' the Hulk! ''[grunts and rips his shirt, trying to Hulk Out]''

'''Stan:''' He's not the Incredible Hulk! ''I'M'' the Incredible Hulk! ''[yells and tries to Hulk Out]'' C'mon change dammit! Grrr, I did it once before!\\
'''Comic Book Guy:''' Oh, please; you couldn't turn into Bill Bixby...\\
''[Stan yells and tries to Hulk Out again]''\\
'''Comic Book Guy:''' [[SarcasmMode You almost had it that time]].

-->-- '''Stan Lee''', ''Amazing Fantasy #15'', Aug. 1962

Among his projects before his death, he hosted the RealityShow ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'' and the documentary series ''Stan Lee's Superhumans'', and has a [[CreatorCameo cameo]] in almost every Marvel movie adaptation - primarily those of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, but also films made by others - which, coincidentally, makes him the highest-grossing actor in history; his appearance in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' implied that Lee actually plays the ''same individual'' in all his film appearances (or, at least, those in the MCU). He has also gotten into the {{anime}} and {{manga}} business, and worked on three series, ''Manga/KarakuridoujiUltimo'' with ''Manga/ShamanKing'' creator, Hiroyuki Takei, ''Anime/{{Heroman}}'' with Creator/StudioBONES and ''Anime/TheReflection'' with Creator/StudioDeen. He also worked on ''WesternAnimation/TheGovernator'' with Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger.