Stan Lee: "My publisher told me that Spider-Man was the worst idea I have ever heard."
"My publisher came to me and said, 'Stan, I want you to come up with another superhero.' So I said okay. And I thought, 'What power will I give a new guy?' And I saw a fly crawling on the wall. I said, 'Hey, if I can get a superhero that could stick to walls and crawl on them man, that would be groovy.'"
Stan continues:
"I needed a name. Fly-Man, Mosquito-Man... I got down to Spider-Man. It just sounded dramatic. Then I figured, just for fun, I'm going to give him personal problems because most people have personal problems. And I'd make him a teenager, because there were no teenage superheroes at the time."
He brought the idea to his publisher:
"This was his reaction: 'Stan, that is the worst idea I have ever heard. First of all, people hate spiders so you can't call a hero Spider-Man. You want him to be a teenager? Teenagers can only be sidekicks. And you want him to have personal problems? Stan, don't you know what a superhero is? They don't have personal problems.'"
Stan left disappointed but couldn't let it go:
"We were about to kill a magazine called Amazing Fantasy. It wasn't selling well, and we were sending the last issue to press. When you do the last issue of a magazine, nobody cares what you put in it because the book is dying. Just to get it out of my system, I put Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy. Featured him on the cover. Forgot about it."
Then the sales figures came in:
"A month later, my publisher came racing into my office: 'Stan, Stan! You remember that character we both loved so much Spider-Man? Let's do him as a series.'"
Stan shares the lesson:
"If you have an idea that you genuinely think is good don't let some idiot talk you out of it. That doesn't mean every wild notion is going to be genius. But if there's something you feel is good, something you want to do, something that means something to you try to do it.
Because I think you can only do your best work if you're doing what you want to do. And if you can look at it after and say, 'I did that and I think it's pretty damn good' that's a great feeling."
FINISHING IN #NBA2K26 NEEDS A MAJOR CHANGE❗️
One of the biggest inconsistencies right now in NBA 2K26 lies within the finishing system, especially in how it interacts with defensive contests and the logic behind the dunk meter.
There are too many moments where the defensive effort being made doesn’t match the outcome of the play. You can make the right read, drive with the correct angle, and still get punished with a tiny or unpredictable green window… while on the other end, defenders can get beat and somehow still manage to heavily affect a dunk attempt.
It almost feels like the logic behind finishing doesn’t align with the defensive animation or contest that’s actually happening.
If we compare it to shooting, the difference in consistency is night and day. It’s far easier to green a jumpshot than it is to green a dunk meter. Shooting gives players multiple learning paths (Rhythm Shooting and Button Shooting) both of which reward timing and IQ. Finishing, however, doesn’t have that same depth or balance.
The button finishes feel noticeably weaker and less reliable than the dunk meter, which in itself can be extremely unforgiving. The green window on dunk meter attempts is incredibly small, even on what appear to be open takes. This makes finishing feel more about luck or animation RNG than player skill or decision-making.
Another major factor tied to this is interior defensive consistency. The way contests register inside the paint feels disconnected from how they function on the perimeter. Combine that with how post play has been watered down compared to last year, and we’re left with a finishing system that lacks the stability and satisfaction it once had.
To make Finishing BETTER:
• The dunk meter logic needs to better reflect real defensive positioning.
• Button finishing should be viable, not a gamble.
• Green windows for dunks and layups should scale more dynamically based on interior defense, attributes, and badges.
• Post control, strength, and timing should matter the same way shooting attributes do.
If 2K can bring finishing up to the same level of refinement and consistency as shooting, NBA 2K26 could easily reach one of the best gameplay balances we’ve had in years.
Finishing should reward skill, decision-making, and timing… not randomness.
@smallguards Show me personally I don’t think it’s a lack of skill it’s more so a creativity gap type of thing. Like everybody’s running the same builds everybody’s fading everybody wants to make a 7’4 so like idk thats my opinion. The lack of creativity is whats killing this game
@smallguards Idk. Speaking as a casual player whose now made it to Hall of Fame I’ve just learned my shot and learned how the game is played to get better. But at the same time I do feel like everybody’s doing the same exact thing everybody wants to be Meta no one’s daring to be different.
@Swag_x_Godly If you made a small guard with no block you better have a high steal and if not that play the smallest players in street kings. Watch @Swag_x_Godly video for more info
@Beluba Please fix the defense in this game. I have 95 perimeter and 94 steal
granted a low strength but i have a 90 speed making me faster than most and i hardly get steals or even chase-downs on layups. Please also fix the dunking window.
@GARCELLx@Beluba@WoLF74@CHoops4Life I have a 6’4 with 93 driving dunk and 80 vert and my window is always small unless theres no defender but even then I had a few wide open ones shrink. They need to fix dunking and defense.