--- title: Stan Lee: Marvel Characters He Created description: Here are some of the most beloved superheroes and villains you'd never know without Stan Lee. canonical: https://time.com/5452364/stan-lee-marvel-characters/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-12T21:57:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:58.019Z og:title: Some of the Characters You'd Never Know Without Stan Lee og:description: The comic book icon passed away at the age of 95 og:url: https://time.com/5452364/stan-lee-marvel-characters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee13cfcfd7a5e88/69893ed3b21a9c9df74ff70e/stan-lee-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Stan-Lee-Dead og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Some of the Characters You'd Never Know Without Stan Lee twitter:description: The comic book icon passed away at the age of 95 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee13cfcfd7a5e88/69893ed3b21a9c9df74ff70e/stan-lee-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Are Some of the Most Beloved Heroes and Villains You'd Never Know Without Stan Lee  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 12, 2018 9:57 PM UTC  Stan Lee attends the 'Extraordinary: Stan Lee' event at The Saban Theatre on August 22, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. Stan Lee attends the 'Extraordinary: Stan Lee' event at The Saban Theatre on August 22, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Nov 12, 2018 9:57 PM UTC In the wake of reports that [Stan Lee passed away](http://time.com/5452261/marvel-stan-lee-dead/) at the age of 95 on Monday, [fans are mourning the loss](http://time.com/5452256/stan-lee-died-reactions/) of the legendary Marvel Comics creator. Lee, who made cameos in a number of the [Marvel Cinematic Universe movies](http://time.com/5167535/upcoming-marvel-movies/), is credited with creating some of the most popular comic book superheroes and villains of all time, including Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Incredible Hulk. “I think everybody loves things that are bigger than life. … I think of them as fairy tales for grown-ups,” he told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview. “We all grew up with giants and ogres and witches. Well, you get a little bit older and you’re too old to read fairy tales. But I don’t think you ever outgrow your love for those kind of things, things that are bigger than life and magical and very imaginative.” The true origin stories of some superheroes aren’t always clear. But without Stan Lee, the world of heroes and villains would be a lot smaller. Here are some of the most beloved heroes and villains you’d never know if it wasn’t for Stan Lee. ## Heroes created by Stan Lee * Ant-Man * Ancient One * Avengers * Beast * Black Panther * Black Widow * Captain Marvel * Cyclops * Daredevil * Doctor Strange * Fantastic Four * Groot * Hawkeye * Hulk * Human Torch * Iceman * Invisible Woman * Iron Man * Jean Grey * Mister Fantastic * Nick Fury * Professor X * Quicksilver * Scarlet Witch * Spider-Man * Thing * Thor * Wasp * X-Men ## Villains created by Stan Lee * Doctor Doom * Doctor Octopus * Green Goblin * Kaecilius * Kingpin * Loki * Magneto * Sandman * Vulture * Whiplash ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5452364/stan-lee-marvel-characters/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5452364/stan-lee-marvel-characters/"},"headline":"These Are Some of the Most Beloved Heroes and Villains You'd Never Know Without Stan Lee","datePublished":"2018-11-12T21:57:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:58.019Z","description":"The comic book icon passed away at the age of 95","url":"https://time.com/5452364/stan-lee-marvel-characters/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","Marvel","Comics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee13cfcfd7a5e88/69893ed3b21a9c9df74ff70e/stan-lee-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8ee13cfcfd7a5e88/69893ed3b21a9c9df74ff70e/stan-lee-dead.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stan-Lee-Dead","caption":"Stan Lee attends the 'Extraordinary: Stan Lee' event at The Saban Theatre on August 22, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.","creditText":"Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5452364/stan-lee-marvel-characters/","name":"These Are Some of the Most Beloved Heroes and Villains You'd Never Know Without Stan Lee"}}]}] ```