Stan Lee's billion-dollar legacy

Published on: November 16, 2018 / Updated on: November 16, 2018 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

He invented superheroes like Spider-Man, Ironman and Black Panther and eventually became a pop culture icon himself: Stan Lee, comic book writer and visionary of the Marvel Universe, died on Monday at the age of 95.

“Stan Lee was as special as the characters he created. As a superhero for comic book fans around the world, Stan had the ability to inspire, entertain, and connect,” said Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, about the deceased. Disney bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009 for more than $4 billion – a price largely based on the value Stan Lee created with his characters.

Despite the decades-long popularity of Lee's characters, most of which originated in the 1950s and 60s, it wasn't until the 21st century that Spider-Man and his companions truly achieved mainstream success. The triumph of the first live-action Spider-Man film in 2002 sparked a wave of superhero movies that broke record after record, raking in billions at the box office. The following infographic shows which of Lee's characters achieved the greatest success on screen.

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