Stan Lee, the late Marvel screenwriter who died in 2018, created some of the most famous superheroes and villains American comics. The artist had multiple precepts and rules concerning the design of comic book characters, and particularly villains… One of his declarations on this subject is in fact at the origin of the best bad guys in the MCU.
Stan Lee, champion of nuance
Between 1967 and 1980, Stan Lee had a column at the end of the Maison des Idées comics entitled Soapbox, in which he expressed his views on society with his characteristic wisdom. Established in this column for more than a decade, his doctrine still continues to influence the MCU todaythe cinematic (and for several years, serial) universe of Marvel. A rule published in 1969, regarding the development of villain charactersinspired the best villains (created or not by Stan Lee), from Thanos to Loki, including Mysterio and Ego. As he explains in the long paragraph below, these are the nuances brought to these bad guys which also make them human and approachable. The motivations of some of them are even so convincing that we would tend to side with them!
One of the things we try to demonstrate in our stories is that no one is good or bad. Even a poor supervillain may have a redeeming character traitjust like any screaming hero can have his weirdo complexes. One of the greatest obstacles to peace and justice in this troubled world is the feeling that everyone on the other side of the ideological fence is the “bad guy.” We don’t know if you are a radical extremist or Mr. Establishment himself; whether you are a black activist or a white liberal; whether you are an exhausted protester or a happy John Bircher [association d’extrême droite américaine] ; but, whoever you are, don’t let yourself be pigeonholed into kindergarten labels! It’s time we learned how it is futile to think in terms of us and them, black and white. Maybe the other side isn’t so bad. Perhaps your own view is not the only divinely inspired one. Maybe we will never find true understanding until we listen to each other ; and until we realize that we will never be able to cross the rainbow bridge to true Nirvana -unless we do it side by side!
Stan Lee’s Rule Made the MCU’s Best Villains Come to Life
During his long career as a screenwriter, Stan Lee invented a whole Marvel “mythology”based on characters identifiable at first glance and antagonists motivated by legitimate objectives. This philosophy, of always giving enemies of his mobile solid superheroesalso influenced the MCU. Since the beginnings of this fictional universe in 2008, Kevin Feige has tried not to fall into a corny Manichaeism, with more or less success. If certain villains, including evil designs are poorly explainedhave sunk into oblivion, the more nuanced bad guys have hit the mark with the public. Just look at the care taken in the narrative arc of Loki, Thor’s half-brother, whose evolution has captivated spectators and made him one of the public’s most beloved villains/anti-heroes. The MCU unfortunately did not succeed with all the characters, as proven by the failed return of J. Jonah Jameson.
Which MCU villains do you think have the most depth and nuance?
