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Marvel's Fantastic Four: First Steps pays tribute to Stan Lee in a small, meaningful way

The Fantastic Four's cinematic flight motto sounds pretty familiar to any fans of Stan The Man

Published on Fri Nov 15 2024

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A piece of Marvel real world history is about to become a piece of Marvel fictional history, as eagle-eyed MCU fans will discover in next year’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Actor Ralph Ineson, who plays Galactus in the upcoming cinematic reboot of the fan-favorite superhero property, shared what he described as a “wrap gift” from the shoot on social media Friday — something he quickly walked back by saying, “the movie has not wrapped yet and I have another day to do,” joking, “I need a grown up to do this stuff for me now, don’t I?” — and it’s a sweatshirt with the flight insignia of the Fantastic Four themselves, emblazoned with the crew’s surnames, and the mission’s motto: “Excelsior.”

…Which likely raised a smile for Marvel fans who remember Stan Lee using the word as his personal catchphrase since the 1960s.

The word, which translates from Latin as, roughly, “ever upward,” was one adopted by Lee to close out his ‘Stan’s Soapbox’ columns that appeared in Marvel’s comic books during his tenure as editor-in-chief of the company, and would go on to become a signature exclamation from that point on. Its first appearance in print from Lee was in 1968, but it would go on to become everything from a sign-off during public appearances to the title of his 2002 autobiography.

Lee, of course, became a regular presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe via cameo appearances in every Marvel movie through 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. He, of course, died in November 2018, but with the adoption of his motto as the FF’s official flight slogan, his presence will continue to be felt in the MCU for years to come.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.