So many wonderful moments with Stan came spontaneously. As we were setting up the camera one day, he casually started talking about his fans. We know how much Stan meant to you, and we thought it would be nice for you to hear how much your support meant to him. pic.twitter.com/WTX8U1afLm
— Stan Lee (@TheRealStanLee) November 14, 2018
Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee passed away at the age of 95 on Monday, leaving behind a massive (and still growing) pop culture legacy across comics, television, film and music. Many of his fans and collaborators, past and present, have already paid tribute to the late icon. On Thursday, however, his official Twitter account upped the ante by releasing a posthumous love letter from the man himself to those who have looked up to the co-creator of characters like Spider-Man, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.
“I love my fans. I cannot tell you how much I love my fans,” Lee tells an interviewer in the clip.
“Sometimes, at night, I’m sitting here and I’m thinking, ‘What’s it all about?’ Then I get a letter from a fan or I read something or I see something or I remember something. And I realize it’s so lucky to have fans, fans who really care about you. That’s the reason I care about the fans, because they make me feel so great. There’s something, if you think about it, that is wonderful about somebody caring about you, as I care about them, whom you’ve never met. Who may live in another part of the world. But they care, you have something in common and occasionally you contact each other.”
The short video ends with Lee saying “this business of fans… is terrific,” be it through his particular example of fan letters or via the roaring response of those who attended his many comics convention appearances. “I love ’em all!”
This won’t be the last time people see Lee on camera, as he had reportedly filmed several cameos — including one for Avengers 4 — prior to his death. Even so, this clip very well may be Lee’s final message to the fans he loves so much.