Stan Lee in the context of "Harry Osborn"

Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) in the Silver Age of Comic Books. Considered one of the most popular and commercially successful superheroes, he has been featured in comic books, television shows, films, video games, novels, and plays.

Spider-Man is the secret identity of Peter Benjamin Parker, who was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York City, after the death of his parents. Lee, Ditko, and later writers had the character deal with the struggles of adolescence and young adulthood. Readers identified with his self-doubt and loneliness. Unlike previous teen heroes, Spider-Man was not a sidekick nor did he have a mentor. He would be given many supporting characters, such as his Daily Bugle boss J. Jonah Jameson; friends like Harry Osborn and Flash Thompson; romantic interests like Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, and the Black Cat; and enemies such as Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Venom. In his origin story, Peter gets his superhuman spider-powers and abilities after he was bitten by a radioactive spider. These powers include superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes and durability; clinging to surfaces and ceilings; and detecting danger with his precognitive "spider-sense". He sews a spider-web patterned spandex costume that fully covers his body and builds wrist-mounted "web-shooter" devices that shoot artificial spider-webs of his own design, which he uses for both fighting and "web swinging" across the city. Peter initially used his powers for personal gain, but after his Uncle Ben was killed by a burglar that he could have stopped but did not, he learned that "with great power comes great responsibility", and began to use his powers to fight crime as Spider-Man.

Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 in 1962 (cover dated March 1963) and received his own title with Iron Man #1 in 1968. Shortly after his creation, Iron Man became a founding member of the superhero team, the Avengers, alongside Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and the Hulk. Iron Man stories, individually and with the Avengers, have been published consistently since the character's creation.

Iron Man is the superhero persona of Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark, a businessman and engineer who runs the weapons manufacturing company Stark Industries. When Stark was captured in a war zone and sustained a severe heart wound, he built his Iron Man armor and escaped his captors. Iron Man's suits of armor grant him superhuman strength, flight, energy projection, and other abilities. The character was created in response to the Vietnam War as Lee's attempt to create a likeable pro-war character. Since his creation, Iron Man has been used to explore political themes, with early Iron Man stories being set in the Cold War. The character's role as a weapons manufacturer proved controversial, and Marvel moved away from geopolitics by the 1970s. Instead, the stories began exploring themes such as civil unrest, technological advancement, corporate espionage, alcoholism, and governmental authority.

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (French: [ʒiʁo]; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius (/ˈmoʊbiəs/; French: [møbjys]) for his fantasy/science-fiction work, and to a slightly lesser extent as Gir (French: [ʒiʁ]), which he used for his Western-themed work. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and Hayao Miyazaki, among others, he has been described as the most influential bande dessinée artist after Hergé.

His most famous body of work as Gir concerns the Blueberry series, created with writer Jean-Michel Charlier, featuring one of the first antiheroes in Western comics. As Mœbius, he achieved worldwide renown with science-fiction and fantasy comics drawn in a highly imaginative, surreal, almost abstract style. These works include Arzach and the Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius. He also collaborated with avant garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky for an unproduced adaptation of Dune and the comic-book series The Incal.

The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May 1962). In his comic book appearances, the character, who has dissociative identity disorder (DID), is primarily represented by the alter ego Hulk, an immense, green-skinned, hulking brute, possessing a limitless degree of physical strength, and the alter ego Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, a physically weak, socially withdrawn, and emotionally reserved physicist, both of whom typically resent each other. Lee stated that the Hulk's creation was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Following his accidental exposure to gamma rays while saving the life of Rick Jones during the detonation of an experimental bomb, Banner is physically transformed into the Hulk when subjected to emotional stress, at or against his will. This transformation often leads to destructive rampages and conflicts that complicate Banner's civilian life. The Hulk's level of strength is usually conveyed proportionate to his anger level. Commonly portrayed as a raging savage, the Hulk has been represented with other alter egos like a gangster (Joe Fixit), a merged personality (Merged Hulk), a mindless, destructive force (War), a brilliant warrior (World-Breaker), a self-hating protector (Devil Hulk), a genius scientist in his own right (Doc Green), and several minor alter egos.

Hulk (also known as The Hulk) is a 2003 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The film was directed by Ang Lee and written by John Turman, James Schamus, and Michael France. Eric Bana stars as Bruce Banner and Hulk, alongside Jennifer Connelly, Sam Elliott, Josh Lucas, and Nick Nolte. The film explores Bruce Banner's origins. After a lab accident involving gamma radiation, he transforms into a giant green-skinned humanoid with superhuman strength known as the Hulk whenever stressed or emotionally provoked. The United States military pursues him, and he clashes with his biological father, who has dark plans for his son.

Development started in 1990. At one time, Joe Johnston and then Jonathan Hensleigh were to direct. Hensleigh, John Turman, Michael France, Zak Penn, J. J. Abrams, Michael Tolkin, David Hayter, and Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski wrote more scripts before Ang Lee and James Schamus's involvement. The project was filmed primarily in California from March to August 2002, mainly in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.

Marvel counts among its characters such well-known superheroes as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel, as well as popular superhero teams such as the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Its stable of well-known supervillains includes Doctor Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin, Venom, Red Skull, Loki, Ultron, Thanos, Apocalypse, and Galactus. Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe, with most locations mirroring real-life places; many major characters are based in New York City. Additionally, Marvel has published several licensed properties from other companies. This includes Star Wars comics, twice from 1977 to 1987, and again since 2015.

Spider-Man, a superhero created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko for comic books published by Marvel Comics, has appeared in film since the 1970s. The character debuted in CBS's TV-movie pilot for the program The Amazing Spider-Man in 1977, the first of a trio of companion films with Spider-Man Strikes Back (1979) and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1981). Marvel Comics pursued plans for a more ambitious feature film in the 1980s, in a tumultuous development involving multiple directors, writers, and financiers. After a period of protracted litigation over the Spider-Man copyrights, Sony Pictures and subsidiary Columbia obtained the film rights under a joint agreement with Marvel in 1999.

Beginning in the 2000s, Columbia developed a succession of Spider-Man films featuring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as the titular hero. Marvel Studios produced additional works under a renewed licensing agreement with Sony, incorporating the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Three MCU films starring Tom Holland as Spider-Man were released between the 2010s and the 2020s: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), with a fourth MCU entry, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, scheduled for release in 2026. Holland has also appeared in crossover films within the MCU. The animated Spider-Verse spotlight several reimagined Spider-Men, chiefly Miles Morales, the main protagonist voiced by Shameik Moore. Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) operates with a loosely shared continuity to all existing Spider-Man film franchises but does not explicitly feature the character. Amateur films about Spider-Man explore a range of interpretations from ordinary people.

Maybelle "May" Parker-Jameson (née Reilly), commonly known as Aunt May, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Spider-Man. Making her first full appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), the character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, playing an influential role in the Spider-Man comic books.

May is the widow of Ben Parker and the paternal aunt by marriage of Peter Parker, who leads a secret life as Spider-Man. She is a supportive mother figure to Peter, although throughout most of Spider-Man's history, she has not known of his secret life and considered Spider-Man frightening. In modern renditions, May has been known to support the hero, and in rare cases suspects or knows his true identity. Later in life, she marries J. Jonah "Jay" Jameson Sr., the estranged father of Peter's boss and Spider-Man's harshest critic J. Jonah Jameson, making him her step-son and by extension Peter's step-cousin (and self-declared step-brother), much to Jameson's discomfort.

Benjamin Franklin Parker, usually referred to as Uncle Ben, is a supporting character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually in association with the superhero Spider-Man (Peter Parker). He was the husband of May Parker and the paternal uncle and father figure of Peter Parker. After appearing in Strange Tales #97 (January 1962), Uncle Ben made his first full appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. He was modeled and named after American founding father Benjamin Franklin.

The character has been an essential part of Spider-Man's history. His death at the hands of a petty criminal, whom Spider-Man previously had the chance to apprehend, but chose not to, has been depicted in most versions of the hero's origin story, as the main factor that inspired Peter to become Spider-Man. Uncle Ben's quote, "With great power there must also come great responsibility" (often paraphrased as "With great power comes great responsibility"), has become Spider-Man's "moral guide" and iconic life motto.