Some of Marvel’s biggest stars and fans have paid tribute to comic book icon Stan Lee, on what would have been his 96th birthday.
The tributes to the Marvel co-founder, who died last month, were led by Mark Ruffalo, who plays Hulk/Bruce Banner in the MCU.
“Thank you always for your vision and magic, Stan. Happy birthday,” wrote Ruffalo.
Thank you always for your vision and magic, Stan. Happy birthday ? pic.twitter.com/QRweIShTRs
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) December 28, 2018
In an emotional Instagram post, Kevin Smith also described the honour of attending Lee’s 95th birthday in 2017, which proved to be the last time he saw him in person before his death.
“I’m SO glad I went, as this was the last time I’d ever see my friend and hero: two months later, I had a massive heart attack,” Kevin wrote.
“And nine months after that, Stan would leave us for a better place where the master storytellers gather and reminisce about how their magic words changed the world. Happy Birthday, Stan! We all miss you because you hung the moon, man.”
Tributes also came from Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse writer Chris Lord, who thanked Lee for “telling us we weren’t the only ones”.
Thank you Stan Lee for telling us we aren’t the only ones. #AnyoneCanWearTheMask pic.twitter.com/x9JyAupcZx
— Phil Lord (@philiplord) December 28, 2018
Happy birthday @TheRealStanLee from all of us here at #SpiderVerse ( courtesy our rock star character designer @shiyoonk !) pic.twitter.com/mw4U8ophzr
— Phil Lord (@philiplord) December 28, 2018
Remembering "The Man" on what would have been his 96th birthday. We were all so fortunate to have lived in a world with him in it. pic.twitter.com/sKx1HKhGIg
— JoeQuesada (@JoeQuesada) December 28, 2018
Meanwhile, Lee’s daughter confirmed last month that the legendary writer was working on a new character at the time of his death and she now hopes to finish his vision for it.
“We have been working on a character called Dirt Man”, J.C. Lee revealed in a new interview with TMZ.
“The last little angel we’ve got tucked away is called Dirt Man. I said ‘Daddy please, no clatter, no steel or any of that. Let’s get down and dirty. Let’s do what’s going on about love. Let’s do Dirt Man.’”