How Stan Lee Influenced My Life

Like I said in my previous post I have never met Stan Lee. He has however, had a huge influence on my life. In fact two Marvel characters in particular have: Spider-man and Loki.

When I was growing up I would, like most kids, get up early to watch cartoons. One of these cartoons was Spider-man. It was that classic Spider-man cartoon with the song we all know and love.

At that age all I knew was that Spider-man was super cool and I wanted to have powers like him. As I got older and started high school I began to relate to Peter Parker as a person. I was never the most popular kid at school and neither was Peter, so that made it okay.

In my later years of high school I started watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies. It was then I fell in love with Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal of Loki. Later I would also really connect with Tom Holland’s Spider-man. I was at the stage where I was moving from school into the wider world, trying to work out who I am. This is one aspect of Loki I really connected with. Loki, in both the movies and comics, is almost constantly on a journey of self-discovery. As a young adult this is something I can really relate to. What is amazing about Loki is that despite being on a path of discovery he is incredibly confident. He acts like he already knows perfectly well who he is. I always describe cats as creatures who behave like they already rule the world and I would describe Loki the same way. I admire the way no matter the situation Loki is always calm and confident. Although I don’t plan on ruling humanity I would like to be as calm and as confident as Loki, even when things don’t go my way.

It’s interesting seeing that I like Spider-man/Peter Parker that I’m on the path to become a journalist. You’ll never guess what one of my favourite types of journalism is….that’s right! Photojournalism, just like Peter Parker. One of my favourite things to photograph is amazing cosplayers, particularly Marvel heroes and villians. It’s almost like I’ve become my hero. In fact through cosplay I’ve had the chance to become Loki. I would like to continue cosplaying Marvel characters to honor Stan Lee and inspire others to do the same.