Stan Lee left behind a million-dollar legacy in terms of box office success.
The co-creator of some of the most iconic comic characters in the world passed away at 95.
“Stan Lee was as extraordinary as the characters he created”, said Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company.
Alongside with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he became the head of Marvel, known and beloved by comic book fans around the world, home to some of the greatest super hero names in history.
Although it wasn’t until the 21st century that Lee’s, Ditko’s and Kirby’s work really became a money-making machine, their creations all served as a voice for young and old alike, as emblematic characters like Thor, Iron-Man, Dr. Strange, The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man became more than just a a fantasy for people across the world.
Nevertheless, in 2002, when the first live-action Spider-Man movie premiered in cinemas, a comic book movie craze went buzzing around the globe, creating billions of dollars in box office revenue.
Since then, the legacy of Stan Lee not only re-gained popularity in young and old audiences alike, it turned inmortal as his creations became one of the biggest successes of movie history.
Disney acquired Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion in 2009 – a price largely based on the value of characters conceived by Lee decades earlier – adding to the already growing super hero boom that was hyping up everybody everywhere.
These were the biggest box-office hits of characters/franchises (co-)created by Stan Lee:
The Avengers ($4.97b)
Spider-Man ($4.84b)
The X-Men ($3.18b)
Iron-Man ($2.42b)
Thor ($1.95b)
Black Panther ($1.35b)
Ant-Man ($1.14b)
