Stan Lee stands as one of the world’s most respected comic authorities given his enthusiastic love for all things Marvel, and earlier today, he told fans which comic book movie has been his favorite.

Through his official Facebook page, Stan Lee told fans that his favorite film so far, “was the first one that was such a hit, the first Spider-Man.”

Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man was released back on May 3, 2002 by Sony Pictures. The film starred Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker with Kirsten Dunst cast as Mary Jane and James Franco as Harry Osborn. Spider-Man was one of Marvel’s first films of the new millennia following Fox’s X-Men in 2000.

Spider-Man was wildly successful in both domestic and foreign markets as the film grossed $821,708,551 worldwide. It was nominated for 2 Academy Awards for Visual Effects and Sound, and even still, Spider-Man ranks in Marvel’s top 5 highest grossing films domestically of all-time.

Stan Lee went on to say, “After that [Spider-Man], everything else seemed easy.”

Though not included in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe which started in 2008, Spider-Man paved way for the upcoming superhero films as it was well-received by both fans and critics.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Stan Lee said that Spider-Man held one of his all-time favorite superhero performances with Tobey Maguire donning the hero’s webbed suit because, “he was such an unexpected big success.”

Stan Lee admitting that Spider-Man is his favorite comic book movie should come as little surprise given his history with the hero. After all, Spider-Man was first created by Stan Lee in August 1962 with artist Steve Ditko during the Silver Age of Comics. Debuting in Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man stunned audiences as the teenage hero related with younger audiences wanting to see themselves in contemporary comics.

Since Spider-Man’s creation, Stan Lee has held the hero in special regard as the character has gone to star in numerous comics, films, television series, and even Broadway musicals with Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. The original Spider-Man film trilogy was even followed up by a reboot with Andrew Garfield in 2012, and most recently, Tom Holland inherited the role of Spider-Man for Captain America: Civil War.