Stan Lee 96th Birth Anniversary: How the Spider-Man Creator Came up With the Line 'With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility'

Today is Stan Lee's 96th birth anniversary. The creator of some of the most epic comic characters left the mortal world in 2018. As a token of love and appreciation, we are going to talk about one of the artist's great work. Stan Lee has left behind the kind of legendary legacy of work that humanity will always be thankful to him. He has kept generations of fans entertained with his creations. The hero created superheroes for Marvel comics, which have now even developed into a Marvel Cinematic Universe with dozens of movies and TV shows. It is debatable, but one of his best creations is the supehero comic book character, Spider-Man/Peter Parker. And with that Stan Lee also gave us a line which no less than a moral code in today's time. "With great power, comes great responsibility."

For many the line first appeared in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film in 2002. But the origin of the dialogue spoken by Peter's uncle Ben dates way back. Now, there have been more than hundreds of Spider-Man movies over the decades. Fans still battle it out on the internet as to when the line first appeared. Stan Lee’s Cameo in Avengers Endgame Is Extra Special and Emotional As He Says, ‘Make Love, Lot War’.

The first time the phrase appeared it was in August 1962 in the comics Vol. 1, #15 of the Marvel comic Amazing Fantasy. In the comic, the line is not spoken by anyone. Instead, it appears on a panel as a caption, a commentary on Peter Parker's situation. He had just figured out that he was partially responsible for his uncle's death since he refused to apprehend a burglar who later killed him. "And a lean. Silent figure slowly fades into the gathering darkness, aware at last that in this world, with great power there must also come -- great responsibility." -- the panel read.

The next time the line appeared in the comics, it was  in 1982, in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1. Again, the line is not spoken by Uncle Ben but mentioned by another character as something he used to say when he was alive.

The first time Uncle Ben said the line it was in the year 2002 in Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 2, #38. A few months later, the dialogue was said by Uncle Ben in Sam Raimi's film, which also redefined the supehero genre of movies.

Watch The Scene From Spider-Man (2002) Here:

It is said that Stan Lee was asked how he came up with "With great power comes great responsibility.” He simply said, "It just came to me."

All superhero movies can be broken down to this one ethic captured in one line by Stan Lee. Although, to be noted, that it was indeed a popular proverb before Stan Lee used it in the comics.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 28, 2019 10:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).