Marvel publisher Stan Lee, who died at age 95 earlier this week, often used the medium of comic books—considered childish and silly by many—to bring societal and racial issues to the forefront.
The contributions of characters like Black Panther and the X-Men to our national dialogue on numerous sensitive issues should not be underestimated, even if they were delivered by fantastical individuals often clad in bright spandex.
At the end of his life, Lee himself may have been the victim of elder abuse, which is a growing issue. Indeed, elder planning in general—preparing for the enormous boomer generation to transition into old age—presents a looming danger across the country that needs to be discussed and addressed.
Though we realize they almost certainly weren’t created with this purpose in mind, we decided to honor Stan Lee by using the characters he created and made famous to encourage discussion about elder planning and abuse issues.
Here are seven elder planning lessons from the Marvel universe.