Stan Lee, the visionary Marvel comic writer, died today at 95.
He, along with longtime co-creators like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko (who also died earlier this year), was instrumental in creating some of the most popular characters and stories in the world—which are now worth billions of dollars. They may have started out as comic-book heroes, villains, and personalities, but have since transcended to star in animated series, live-action shows, and many blockbuster movies.
Below is a short list of the most iconic of the onscreen characters we’d be without if Lee had not put pen to paper. (Lee and his partners created hundreds of characters to fill out the worlds their heroes lived in.) We’ve bolded the ones who have had movies named after them:
*Lee helped crate the original Captain Marvel, an alien named Mar-Vell, but the role is now filled by the character Carol Danvers, who the forthcoming movie is about.