Dave Bautista Thanks Stan Lee For Inspiring Him

Once the news broke that Stan Lee had passed away, the internet quickly flooded with an overwhelming number of messages from fans and acquaintances thanking the legendary comic book creator for his work.

Among these many tributes is one from Dave Bautista, who recalled in a tweet how starstruck he always was in the presence of the man:

“He was always good to me and I giggled like a kid every time he said my name. Stan Lee knows my name,wow!  I was always so star struck that I don’t think I ever thanked him for inspiring me. Through his characters and through his life. Thank you Stan”

These days, Bautista looks to have experienced a bit of a falling out with Marvel Studios over the controversial firing of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, with the Drax actor admitting that he’s not sure if he wants to continue working for Disney. But if Bautista’s time performing under the Marvel banner may be nearing its end, it’s clear that his admiration for the man who helped make it all possible remains.

Of course, Bautista is far from the only MCU regular to express his gratitude to the late writer, with his Guardians co-star Chris Pratt also taking to Twitter to say that he considered himself “extraordinarily lucky” to have been a part of the world Lee created.

Meanwhile, fellow cinematic universe inhabitant Mark Ruffalo tweeted that Lee’s work “let us be extra human… superhuman even,” while his fellow Avenger Chris Hemsworth wrote a message thanking the publisher for “the incredible adventures your stories took all of us on.” Chris Evans, meanwhile, praised Lee for how he “provided both young and old with adventure, escape, comfort, confidence, inspiration, strength, friendship and joy” and Robert Downey Jr shared a photo on Instagram with the message, “I owe it all to you,”

Evidently, there are lot of people out there who have reasons to be thankful for the world and the characters that Stan Lee left behind, and so long as the MCU finds new ways to expand and evolve, it’s clear that the man’s influence will endure.