Marvel Comics' Stan Lee dies at 95

Stan Lee, the legendary Marvel Comics writer and editor who helped revolutionize the comic book industry and created dozens of iconic superheroes, has died at age 95, The Hollywood Reporter and NBC News report.

The cause of death is still unknown, but TMZ reports that Lee was rushed to the hospital in Los Angeles on Monday morning. Earlier this year, he was forced to cancel numerous appearances due to a battle with pneumonia, telling fans in a video at the time, "I want you to know that I still love you all.”

Born in 1922, Lee was hired in 1939 as an assistant at Timely Publications, which eventually became Marvel Comics. Alongside artist Jack Kirby and others, Lee went on to create countless heroes like the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, and Black Panther. Lee created notably flawed and relatable characters, in contrast with the godlike heroes like Superman found in the pages of other comics.

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Decades later, many of Lee's characters were brought to life on film, and Lee had a cameo in virtually every single movie adaptation, including every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie from Iron Man to this year's Ant-Man and the Wasp. Lee generally filmed several of his cameos at once, and per Screen Rant, it appears he had already shot his role in next year's Avengers 4 prior to his death.