Veteran comic book artist Stan Lee talked about how he was the original creator of Spider-Man for Marvel comics and the lawsuit that followed!

Legendary comic book writer Stan Lee is known for creating the Marvel universe as we know it. From thousands of characters to hundreds of merging storylines, it was Lee who gave the world superheroes who they could look to.

Stan Lee via Hollywood TV / Credits: YouTube

Arguably, his most famous character was Peter Parker, who got bitten by a radioactive spider and became Spider-Man. In an earlier interview, Lee had to clarify who came up with the idea of Spider-Man.

Stan Lee clarified about who was the creator of Spider-Man

American comic book artist Steve Ditko is often credited with being the co-creator of the Marvel superhero Spider-Man alongside Stan Lee and also the creator of Doctor Strange.

Stan Lee is the creator of Spider-Man | Credits: Marvel Comics

Although we aren’t the ones who say he wasn’t, Stan Lee seemed to have a problem with it. Lee revealed that there might never be a resolution to this debate that has been going on with Steve Ditko.

In an interview with the Dallas Observer, the legendary comic book artist stated that although Ditko drew the character, it was Stan Lee who came up with the idea of Spider-Man.

Steve feels he co-created Spider-Man with me because he drew it, and as far as I’m concerned, maybe he’s right and I have no problem with that, but he did not come up with the idea for Spider-Man.

He further continued,

Deep down in the inner recesses of my soul, I feel the guy who had the idea was the guy who created it. But Steve says, and maybe rightly so, all I had was an idea, and until he put it on paper it was just an idea, so I’m very happy to say he was the co-creator.

Well, no wonder Stan Lee had already filed a lawsuit against Marvel back in 2002. The news was revolting and made quite the headlines back in the day and people had their own conclusions.

From calling it a scandal to talks of wanting attention, the lawsuit became quite controversial, but in Stan Lee’s mind, the lawsuit would have been just a simple conversation.

Why Stan Lee filed a lawsuit against Marvel

In 2002, Lee accused Marvel of not paying him $20 million. The comics had made a lot of profit from the Spider-Man and the X-Men series. The comic book artist wanted Marvel to share in the profit with him.

Stan Lee in Avengers: Age of Ultron / Credits: Marvel Studios

When things escalated, Stan Lee finally filed a lawsuit against Marvel. As per his talks with the Dallas Observer, Lee stated that the media misrepresented the lawsuit.

He hoped that it would be the calmest lawsuit in history and wanted nothing more than to understand the terms of his contract better.

Actually, I was sort of talked into it. People have written it’s like the Colonel suing Kentucky Fried Chicken. It feels funny, but I don’t see it as a lawsuit as much as trying to get to the bottom of what the contract really means, what those words mean.

In the end, Stan Lee finally won the case in 2005 when Marvel announced that it had reached a financial settlement with the comic book artist. The rest, as we know, is history.

Stan Lee continued to make recurring cameo roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe until he made a posthumous appearance where he was digitally de-aged as a car driver in Avengers: Endgame.

The iconic 2019 film is available to stream on Disney+.