The story behind Stan Lee’s favorite marvel catchphrase

Stan Lee, the chief writer and editor of Marvel Comics who became the face of the brand, has died at 95.

He’s known for helping to usher in what fans know as the silver age in comic books-and by driving the creation of characters including the X-Men, Spider-Man, and Iron Man, he also paved the way for Marvel’s nearly total takeover of Hollywood blockbusters in the past decade.

Lee was a tireless self-promoter, extending to the Marvel superhero movies. He was known for his extensive cameos in not just the films, but also television and video game offshoots of the comics. One cameo featuring a peculiar catchphrase, in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, has tripped up some viewers.

During a scene when the Avengers are partying, Stan Lee plays a World War II veteran demanding a drink from Thor’s flask, which contains a spirit aged for a thousand years “not meant for mortal men.” After being knocked drunk on his ass by the apparently potent liquor, Lee is carted away and slurs, “Excelsior.”

Well, it should really be “Excelsior!” It was a favorite catchphrase of Lee’s, who used it numerous times across the Marvel universe. He wrote it in his columns for Marvel, shouted it at a Comic Con panel, in voiceovers, pretty much everywhere he could. It was an inspirational if slightly enigmatic signoff that caught on. Lee explained his use of the word, which means “higher” in Latin, in an io9 story:

Where did your catch phrase “Excelsior!” come from?

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.

After news of Lee’s death, Chris Evans-AKA Captain America-provided his own “Excelsior!” in a heartwarming tribute to the Marvel mastermind on Twitter.