Gamer's Outpost LLC

by John ‘Spartan’ Nguyen

Marvel has made a big announcement today about the Marvel Universe by teasing that it will end. With everything “ending” and the Marvel and Ultimate Universe colliding, what does the godfather of Marvel think about a possible new beginning? Stan Lee, the man who co-created the X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, and more, is fine with it.

“It’s probably good,” Lee said. “Anything they do that’s unexpected and different usually captures the attention of the fans. People will want to follow it to see what happens and where it will lead. Marvel cannot keep doing the same stories over and over again. You always have to come up with new angles and new approaches to things. I think it’s probably a good idea. It sounds intriguing to me.”

Even though he thinks it’s intriguing, he still has a spot for the original.

“Of course I have an emotional attachment to the original Marvel Universe, because I was so involved in it,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I expect it to be that way forever. It might be better under this new approach. I’m eager to see what might happen.”

If Lee had the chance to do it all over, would he do it?

“At the time, what I did, I thought was the right way to go, and maybe sometimes, even the perfect way to go,” Lee said. “I liked making the Fantastic Four superheroes without a secret identity. I liked the tragedy of Spider-Man’s origin, the ‘with great power, there must also come great responsibility.’ I thought it was the right way of doing things at the time. And I still like what I’ve done. I can’t think, off the top of my head, of anything I’d really want to change.”

Lee understands that it’s important to surprise fans.

“I was once the creative head of the company, but the company was smaller,” he said. “I don’t know what I would do if I was the creative head of the company today. I’d have to ponder that for a bit. I know that you always have to have surprises. You always have to make the reader say, ‘Wow, I never expected this!’ You have to keep doing that. It’s kind of become the Marvel tradition. If this continues that tradition, I’m happy for them all, and I’m happy for the fans.”