Marvel: 17 Stan Lee created Marvel characters ranked worst to best

11. Spider-Man

With Iron Man follows Spider-Man. There have been many iterations of this character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Tom Holland being a favorite of all so far. Spidey is by far the most successful character Stan Lee has ever created. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s the best. He’s just the best financially.

Between movie deals, animated shows, merchandise, comic books, video games, and so much more, there is no way that Lee ever regretted creating the boy wonder. Originally created in 1962 in Amazing Fantasy #15, the teenager bitten by the radioactive spider is one of the most famous superheroes of all time, even for those who haven’t watched a movie or picked up a comic.

Like with Doctor Strange, Lee has always insisted that Steve Ditko helped to create this formidable hero. Around this time, Lee wanted to think of a character that the world had never seen before. When he saw a spider crawl up a wall, he knew he had it.

Of course, Martin Goodman, the Marvel publisher at the time, wasn’t too impressed with the idea but he ran with it. What could have been if he didn’t? Did you know the only reason Goodman did run with it was because the debut comic was supposed to be the final issue? When the sales came in, Goodman realized he couldn’t cancel it and immediately the Amazing Spider-Man series was created.

Spider-Man completely revamped the series and helped to push Marvel forward. More than that, Peter Parker became an inspiration for many. Sure, his powers came from a radioactive spider, but there was more than just that within this character. He had heart, compassion, and love. Good things come to good people and “with great powers comes great responsibility.”