Stan Lee is battling pneumonia at the age of 95.
The Marvel legend revealed his illness in a video on TMZ on Wednesday, explaining that he’s had to cancel several appearances due to his health.
“I have a little bout of pneumonia I’ve been fighting,” he said in the video. “But it seems to be getting better.”
In the video, a soft-spoken Lee sits on a couch as he addresses the camera.
“I want you all to know I’m thinking of you, of course I always think of the fans, and I hope you’re all doing well, and I miss you all. I miss your enthusiasm, I miss all your notes, all your photos and emails,” he said. “I want you to know that I still love you all.”
Lee said he was optimistic that the next time he addresses his fans he’ll be better.
“Maybe I’ll have some of this pneumonia knocked down, and we can have some real fun over the internet. Until then, excelsior,” he concluded.
On Wednesday, TMZ reported Lee called the cops after he noticed $1.4 million missing from his bank account. Lee’s reps did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Lee’s message also comes less than a month after he was rushed to the hospital after suffering from shortness of breath and an irregular heartbeat.
Stan Lee in 2017 Albert L. Ortega/Getty
“All I really want to do is tell you that I’m feeling great,” Lee told ABC7 in a Skype interview after leaving the hospital. “I’m glad I spent that evening in the hospital. It did me a lot of good. It probably did my fans a lot of good. It kept me off their backs for the evening. But I’m feeling good now and I can’t wait to get in there and tangle with all the competition.”
Lee was most recently photographed last month at the Black Panther premiere in Los Angeles, posing with the film’s star Chadwick Boseman, and then, later, with eager fans.
teenagesadist on February 28th, 2018 at 18:50 UTC »
Let's just remember here, folks, the longest living human (confirmed) made it to 122, so we may have another almost 3 decades of Stan Lee.
WaterStoryMark on February 28th, 2018 at 17:14 UTC »
“I have a little bout of pneumonia I’ve been fighting,” he said in the video. “But it seems to be getting better.”
That's the important part.
DrBeardManMD on February 28th, 2018 at 14:49 UTC »
That's a shame. While somewhat harmless in a younger population, pneumonia is very hard on elderly individuals.
EDIT: "Somewhat." I included that word because obviously there are exceptions. But pneumonia has a mortality rate of less than 1%, meaning that the vast majority of people that contract pneumonia end up fine. Unless you are elderly.