Marvel’s three biggest Asian superheroes during Stan Lee’s time
- Comic master who’s died aged 95 always tried to give a platform to people on the margins of society, and in 1950s America that included Asians
- Wong, Colleen Wing and Jimmy Woo live on today in Avengers and Ant-Man films, and on Netflix
The biggest difference between DC and Marvel superheroes has always been relatability.
DC’s roster of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman are aliens, billionaires, and immortals, idealised version of people we wish we could be. Marvel’s characters, however, are outcasts (X-Men), nerds (Spider-Man). They suffer from alcoholism (Iron Man) and anger issues (Hulk). They are people we know – they could be us.
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That has always been Stan Lee’s strength as a creative mind. The former editor-in-chief of Marvel and co-creator of all the aforementioned characters on Marvel’s side understood what being an average person in the tough, real world is like.
Lee co-created the first mainstream African-American superhero (Black Panther), the first physically disabled superhero (the blind Daredevil) and, although Asian representation wasn’t much in demand in the United States during the 1960s and ’70s, Lee gave us a few memorable Asian heroes too.
These were the three most notable Asian characters in the Marvel universe during Lee’s era with the comic company: