Stars pay tribute to Marvel Comics pioneer, Stan Lee, dead at 95

Tributes are being paid to American writer and former president of Marvel Comics Stan Lee, who has died at the age of 95, BBC News reports.

Lee created The Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics in 1961 and went on to create titles including Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk.

Actor Chris Evans, best known for playing Marvel's Captain America, wrote "there will never be another Stan Lee".

X-Men star Hugh Jackman said "we've lost a creative genius."

Robert Downey Jr, who played Iron Man, simply wrote: "I owe it all to you, Rest in Peace Stan."

Kevin Feige, the producer and president of Marvel Studios, tweeted: "No one has had more of an impact on my career and everything we do at Marvel Studios than Stan Lee."

The legendary comic book author died at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a family lawyer.

Tom Hardy, who stars in Venom, the latest film based on a Marvel Comics character, shared a photo of Lee on set, via Instagram.

Sir Patrick Stewart told Radio 4's Today programme he had met Lee "numerous times".

"He loved to visit the set and he became famous, like Hitchcock, for appearing in his movies," said the actor, who played Professor X in the X-Men series.

"He created flawed heroes and it was one of the things that made X-Men so interesting for all of us who
worked on them," he continued.

"We were always very much aware that no matter what our superpowers were, we were human beings, we could make mistakes and things could go wrong. It was that quality which gave humanity to all of Stan's work."

Other stars to pay tribute include Angela Bassett, Zoe Saldana, Jamie Chung, Josh Groban, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt and Josh Brolin.

Shane Duffy, CEO of Lee's Pow! Entertainment, praised the "father of pop culture" for inventing "universes of characters".

He was, Duffy continued, "a true iconic pioneer with no comparable second."

The Walt Disney Company, which bought Marvel Entertainment in 2009, lauded Lee's "unmatchable" life and career in a statement.

"Every time you open a Marvel comic, Stan will be there," it said. "Please join us today in remembering Stan 'The Man' Lee."

Rival publisher DC Comics also tweeted a tribute.

Broadcaster Jonathan Ross remembered Lee as "an incredible showman" who had "touched so many millions with his work".

"He was also a very warm, very kind and very nice human being," Ross told BBC Breakfast.

Lee's wife, Joan, died in 2017, also aged 95. He is survived by his daughter, JC Lee.