Stan Lee Tribute, Tuesday, August 22, 2017, in Beverly Hills, CA. (Jeff Lewis)
He is a superhero in his own right and Marvel’s Stan Lee got the full-on hero’s welcome as he appeared on stage at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills Tuesday night for a two-hour event called “Extraordinary: Stan Lee,” hosted by Chris Hardwick.
The sold out event, which was broadcast in more than 180 theaters across the United States and Canada, thrilled the audience with highlights of Lee’s illustrious career and special guests who kissed the throne and provided insightful anecdotes about their work with him over the decades.
Throughout the evening, which was beset by audio problems, Lee maintained his sense of humor, as did Hardwick, who jumped around loaning guests is microphone. But Lee’s always seemed to work.
Lee’s co-creations include some of the greatest icons in the Marvel universe: Spider-Man™, The Incredible Hulk™, X-Men™, The Fantastic Four™, Iron Man™ and hundreds of others. He introduced Spider-Man™ as a newspaper strip, which became the most successful of all syndicated adventure strips having appeared in more than 500 newspapers worldwide.
The films based upon his creations have almost always featured him in a cameo role—38 appearances at last count.
Lee, a sprightly 94 years old, is Chairman Emeritus of Marvel and a member of the Editorial Board of Marvel Comics.
Special guests who honored him included David Hasselhoff (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2), Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars), Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Pom Klementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2), Alan Tudyk (Star Wars: Rogue One), musician/producer RZA(Blade Trinity), director Jon Schnepp (The Death of ‘Superman Lives’: What Happened?), Peter Shinkoda (Marvel’s Daredevil), Kelly Hu (X2: X-Men United), director Morgan Spurlock (Super-Size Me), Todd McFarlane (Amazing Spider-Man), Andy Signore (Screen Junkies), writer Marv Wolfman (Crisis on Infinite Earths), producer Michael Uslan(Batman), director David Yarovesky (Guardians Inferno), producer/director Kenneth Johnson (The Incredible Hulk), Hal Sparks
Stan Lee and Chris Hardwick (photo: Jeff Lewis)
(Queer as Folk) and Disney Imagineer Ted Robledo (Iron Man Experience).
Event sponsor FILA presented Lee with a special jacket and a pair of FILA’s original Fitness x Stan Lee shoes, designed to pay homage to signature elements of Mr. Lee’s personal style and characters from the Marvel universe. Only two pairs of the FILA x Stan Lee shoes were made.
Other event partners included fundraising platform Omaze, Make-A-Wish®, FILA, Society 6, Disney Home Entertainment, Marvel Studios, Marvel-themed Entertainment, Sara Lee, Randolph Engineering, White Castle, Love Bites Pastry by Val, Shaka’s Sunglasses, Panavision, and It’s a Keen Impression Cake Studio.
