Stan Lee is the progenitor of all things great about Marvel Comics, but the legendary creator ultimately had some harsh words of advice for authors and artists seeking to follow in his footsteps at the publisher, as relayed by another iconic writer, Mark Millar, who revealed that Lee advised him: “don’t create anything here.” 545qd

As Marvel's God of Thunder, Thor is one of the most powerful beings in existence - a half-Elder God with a cosmic storm running through his veins. Of course, with world-shaking strength comes world-shaking enemies, and most of the God of Thunder's strongest enemies have been with him from the very start, introduced by Thor co-creator Stan Lee (and usually fellow creator Jack Kirby.)

Marvel Comics once released a Nick Fury comic so obscene and awe-shockingly violent that even the iconic Stan Lee had to break his silence to condemn the series. Part of Marvel’s MAX imprint of adult-oriented comics, Fury follows Nick Fury as he returns from Vietnam to wage a new war of his own on American soil. While entertaining in its own right, Fury is undoubtedly crude, even for the time.

Marvel's Hulk is the Strongest One There Is, created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. However, a hero of such immense power tends to attract a lot of incredibly imposing villains. In fact, some of Hulk's strongest foes have been around from the very beginning, with their origins in the Lee and Kirby days.

Nicolas Cage is hands down one of the most unique actors to have ever done it in Hollywood, with his love for all things nerdy being a well-known fact that has trickled down into his professional work. Portraying more than his fair share of comic book-based characters on the big screen, Nicolas Cage once revealed that one of Marvel’s most influential writers, Stan Lee, was like a “surrealist father” to him, and that Stan the Man “guided” his childhood in ways he’ll never forget.

Tony Stark's Iron Man is one of Marvel's most iconic heroes, created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby. Comic icon Lee also gave Tony Stark some of his oldest and most famous villains, with some having already appeared in the MCU and others still waiting for their big break.

The X-Men are some of the most powerful heroes in Marvel lore, with the mutant X-gene granting them incredible abilities. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the X-Men can control the weather, warp reality, and travel through time, with 62 years of stories building out an army of mutant heroes and villains. It's therefore pretty surprising that some of Lee and Kirby's creations are still among X-Men's most powerful characters of all time.

The X-Men franchise is one of the lodestones of the Marvel Universe, packed with unique powers and a sprawling found family of mutants fighting for freedom in a world that hates and fears them. While later creators like Chris Claremont and Grant Morrison shaped many essential aspects of the franchise, it all started with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who created Xavier's founding class and their initial slate of opponents and allies.

With Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four and more, Stan Lee co-created many of the most iconic heroes in Marvel history. However, not all of Stan 'The Man' Lee's characters became household names - there are plenty of great creations who don't get the love they deserve, despite many of them embodying unique concepts that have sparked great stories.

While the legacy of Stan Lee is written across the world of Marvel and beyond, his final days were tragically spent suffering mistreatment, manipulation, and abuse. While he will always be ed fondly by fans, a new documentary Stan Lee: The Final Chapter seeks to shed light on this troubling exploitation of the Marvel icon during his last years.