The Game of Thrones saga still ranks as one of the best works from author George R.R. Martin, even though the live-action remake of the same left most fans scarred because of its abrupt end. Apart from the live-action series’ concluding era, the drama is regarded among the most iconic works ever created, with all its grit, gory, and violently dark themes.
Turns out, fans seemingly owe a certain amount of credit for this pleasure to Marvel Comics. This is because Wonder Man from the comics had a great impact on Martin when he was a school-going teenager. In fact, as the author admits himself, it was none other than Stan Lee, whose creativity for the saga became a greater influence on his work than he would have ever dreamed.
Wonder Man Had a Great Impact on George R.R. Martin
Out of all the characters, themes, tones, and genres that could have influenced the creation of the GoT lore, Wonder Man aka Simon Williams, who will soon be seen making his MCU debut, caught Martin’s fancy to a considerable extent. And, as surprising as it may seem because of all the contrasting differences between the two, the author had a very good reason why.
During an appearance on the Bullseye with Jesse Thorn podcast, he shared just why he liked Simon Williams so much, saying:
I liked Wonder Man! You know why? Wonder Man dies in that story. He’s a brand new character, he’s introduced, and he dies. It was very heart-wrenching. I liked the character; he was a tragic, doomed character. I guess I’ve responded to tragic doomed characters ever since I was a high school kid.
In Marvel Comics, Williams’ superhero version was originally introduced in The Avengers #9 as a supervillain-ish character who gets imbued with “ionic” energy and even fights the Avengers before dying doing a noble deed and being reborn as a superhero. As it turns out, this very turn of strange events for the character was what had a tremendous influence on George R.R. Martin.
As the author continued to confess during the same interview:
Of course, being comic books, Wonder Man didn’t stay dead for long. He came back a year or two later and had a long run for many many decades. The fact that he was introduced and joined the Avengers and died all in that one issue had a great impact on me when I was a high school kid.
To say the least, that one issue affected Martin so much that he even wrote to the letters column of The Avengers comic book in 1964 to share his view on how The Avengers #9 was slightly better than Fantastic Four #32! But while the character was one, the author also credits the late creator Stan Lee for being “a bigger influence on my own work than I would have dreamed.”
George R.R. Martin Admits Stan Lee Was a Major Influence on His Work
Continuing in the same interview, A Song of Ice and Fire writer went on to talk about how the late comic book writer cum editor “was doing some amazing work” for Marvel comics. Explaining how he felt Lee introduced a whole other theme and era into the superhero-verse, he said:
The Marvel characters were constantly changing. Important things were happening. The lineup for the Avengers was constantly changing. People would quit, then they would have fights and all of that. As opposed to DC where everybody got along and it was all very nice and all the heroes liked each other. None of this was happening.
That said, the author also admitted how Lee seems to have thoroughly influenced his work to a greater extent than he had expected.
The 75-year-old writer said:
Really, Stan Lee introduced a whole concept of characterization to comic books and conflict; maybe even a touch of gray in some of the characters. Looking back on it now, I can see that probably was a bigger influence on my own work than I would have dreamed.
Of course, Lee has indeed added some of the most creative touches to Marvel’s comic universe, bringing about concepts and characters that brought about some of the most epic twists and turns in the genre. But to know that something like Martin’s gritty yet glorious works were influenced by it, to some extent? Now that’s truly epic.
Game of Thrones can be streamed on Max, while Wonder Man miniseries is yet to get a final release date.
