'Spider-Man' was nearly scrapped because Stan Lee's publisher didn't think a teenager should be the main hero or have problems: 'Don't you know what a superhero is?'

• "Spider-Man" was nearly scrapped when Stan Lee first pitched it to Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics.
• Lee said his publisher didn't think a teenager should be the main hero or have problems.
• Founder Martin Goodman told Lee: "Don't you know what a superhero is?"

Marvel Comics creator and writer Stan Lee is beloved by fans around the world for creating hordes of superheroes like Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther, and many, many more. 

While the writer died at age 95 in 2018, the new "Stan Lee" documentary on Disney+ takes audiences on a journey through Lee's life and career, looking at how he came up with some of the most iconic characters in pop culture.

Mostly narrated by the visionary himself, Lee recalls how Spider-Man was rejected by his boss at the time, Timely Comics founder Martin Goodman, when he first pitched Spider-Man in the early 1960s.

"I walked into the publisher, Martin Goodman, and I said, 'I have an idea for a book called "Spider-Man" about a teenager who has a lot of problems.' This time Martin wouldn't go along with me," Lee recalled.

"He said, 'Stan, I'm surprised at you. A hero can't be a teenager. A teenager can only be a sidekick! And you say you want him to have problems? Don't you know what a superhero is?'" Lee continued. "He was the boss, and I couldn't put 'Spider-Man' out."

Thankfully, Timely Comics had a series they were canceling, called "Amazing Fantasy," so Lee put Spider-Man on the front cover and told the character's now-iconic origin story in the issue just to get it "out of my system."

"When you drop a book, nobody cares what you put in the last issue, 'cause you're killing it," Lee said. "So just to get it out of my system, I put Spider-Man, and I feature him on the cover. I'm lucky Martin didn't fire me on the spot." 

Lee went on to say that he gave Peter Parker plenty of problems to deal with in the story because he felt "most people, even people who seem to be happy, have problems," and that he hadn't read any other comic books about heroes who wanted to "quit being a superhero" at the time.

As we now know, "Amazing Fantasy #15," which was published in August 1962, was hugely successful because of Spidey – and when the company saw how popular it was, Lee's publisher was suddenly excited by the character.

Lee explained: "Later, when the sales figures came in, Martin came running into my office. He said: 'Stan! Do you remember that character of yours, Spider-Man, that we both liked so much? Why don't you do a series of him?' After that, I felt I can do anything."

"Stan Lee" is streaming on Disney+ now.