Joss Whedon's The Avengers may have hit the $1 billion mark last weekend, but just how much of that goes to Stan Lee, the man who (with Jack Kirby) started it all? Perhaps to some surprise, the comic book legend actually isn't rolling in dough.

"I hate to admit this, but I do not share in the movie's profits," Lee told CNN.com in a recent interview. "I just share in the interviews, in the glamour, in the people saying, 'Wow, I love that movie, Stan' -- but I'm not a participant in the profits... [The executive producer credit] is an honorary title."When asked if he would like to be making more money from the film, Lee responded, "Well, it would be nice. [Laughs] But I'm used to the way the situation is. I don't go around thinking about it. I am really very pleased that people enjoy the movie, that it's doing well, and even though I didn't film the movie myself, I seem to be getting a lot of credit for it!"As for future Marvel movies, which characters would the writer like to see adapted next? Said Lee, "I can't wait to see Dr. Strange and The Black Panther... I have a feeling they very well might be [in the works]. They're certainly being considered right now."And speaking of credit where credit is due, what about the creator of Thanos, Jim Starlin? As many of us know by now, at the very end of the film, we get a sneak peek at the popular villain after the initial credits sequence. But Starlin noted that he didn't know about the Thanos cameo until mere weeks before The Avengers was released.

The Avengers Credits Easter Egg Explained (Spoilers)

"I was only alerted by friends to Thanos appearing in the film a few weeks before the opening," Starlin told The Hero Complex . "It’s nice to see my work recognized as being worth something beyond the printed page, and it was very cool seeing Thanos up on the big screen. Joss Whedon and his crew did an excellent job on the Avengers movie and I look forward to the sequel, for obvious reasons. But this is the second film that had something I created for Marvel in it -- the Infinity Gauntlet in Thor being the other -- and both films I had to pay for my own ticket to see them."

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN