Netflix adds Stan Lee easter egg to honor Marvel legend

Stan Lee, who is best known as writer, editor and publisher of Marvel Comics, passed away early Monday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 95.

His impact is clear, with many people (including musicians) taking to the internet to honor the Marvel legend. Now, Netflix has chimed in with a super cool easter egg.

Read more: Op-Ed: Marvel legend Stan Lee influenced more than comics

Lee got his start in the comics business in 1939. He created and co-created several well-known titles including Black PantherSpider-ManX-MenThe Mighty ThorIron ManThe Fantastic FourThe Incredible HulkDaredevil and Ant-Man.

He appeared in many of the Marvel film adaptations over the past couple of decades. Many considered his cameo as a fun easter egg. Netflix is honoring him in the most Stan Lee way by adding an their own easter egg.

“Excelsior,” which means “ever upward” in Latin, has been Lee’s catchphrase for years. Atlas Comics rebranded as Marvel in the ‘60s, and not long after that, Lee began signing off from his monthly column with “Excelsior!”

When asked why he chose the word, Lee explained:

“I used to have a lot of expressions that I would end my comic book columns with: Hang Loose, Face Front, ‘Nuff Said, and I found that the competition was always imitating them and using them. So, I said I’m going to get one expression that they’re not going to know what it means, and they won’t know how to spell it. And that’s where excelsior came from, and they never did take up on it, thank goodness.”

The word began trending globally the day Lee died, so it only makes sense that Netflix would build an easter egg off of it.

Netflix’s NX Twitter account, which describes itself as a “space to live everything super, sci-fi, the fantastic, and beyond” announced the cool find.

Searching “excelsior” on the streaming service gives you all the Marvel titles on the platform.

What do you think of Netflix’s Stan Lee-inspired easter egg?

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