A marvelous tribute to legendary Stan Lee
Stan Lee was the subject of a love fest Tuesday night, as actors, directors, artists and illustrators lauded the Marvel Comics legend for creating a vast universe of superheroes.
Mark Ruffalo, Aisha Tyler, Lou Ferrigno, RZA and comics creator Todd McFarlane were among the speakers at “Extraordinary: Stan Lee,” a tribute in Beverly Hills, Calif., hosted by Chris Hardwick and broadcast into more than 150 movie theaters across the country. The 94-year-old dreamer behind SpiderMan, Iron Man and scores of other superheroes sat center stage at the Saban Theatre as one artist-admirer after another shared how his characters and creative energy inspired them.
“I’ve patterned my life after yours,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” writer-director James Gunn said in a video message.
Ruffalo, Tyler, J.K. Simmons and Kaley Cuoco also appeared via video. Ferrigno was there in the flesh, posing like the Hulk as he took the stage. “I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for Stan,” Ferrigno said, adding that he was inspired by comic books long before he played “The Incredible Hulk” on TV.
McFarlane compared Lee to Walt Disney. Lee created such characters as Thor, the X-Men, Black Panther and the Fantastic Four.
Rapper RZA recalled buying comic books as a kid and being inspired by characters like Silver Surfer, Luke Cage, Spider-Man and Storm.
“Those characters inspired me and took me to a place where there was a world, a Marvel universe, where there wasn’t no bigotry, where there was heroes that looked like me, and where I could think that justice and fun would prevail over all,” RZA said.
“Wouldn’t that be the greatest world in the world?” Lee said.