"Suicide Squad" director David Ayer ruffled some feathers earlier this week when he shouted "F--k Marvel!" at the flick's premiere. Ayer quickly apologized, but Marvel fans didn't take the slight too kindly, leading several prominent names in the Marvel-verse to come to his defense.

One was none other than Marvel legend Stan Lee, the co-creator of countless iconic characters like Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. Lee, who at 93 is still quite active on social media and has his own YouTube channel, took to Twitter to respond to Ayer, telling the director, "Don't feel too bad about dropping the f bomb. It's a compliment of the highest order!"

The comic legend then linked to a video he made back in 2012, where he discussed what it actually means to say "f--k you" to someone, and how inciting such a passionate response -- regardless of the context of that response -- is something all artists should hope for.

"It's the most exotic, exquisite experience you can have," Lee says in the video. "If somebody says 'F you' to me, I feel like saying, 'Thank you. Thank you for wishing such a wonderful thing to me.'"

Another high-profile defender of Ayer's was Joe Quesada, the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, who also sent the director a tweet of support.

Ayer later responded to Quesada's tweet, thanking him for his kindness.

"Funny how you can talk your face off for 2 weeks and just 2 words can bite back so hard!" Ayer added. "I love the passion out there."

With all the nasty "Suicide Squad" reviews that have been released this week (and the equally-nasty fan response to those reviews), we expect even more passion in the coming days. Fans will get to see what the fuss is all about themselves when "Suicide Squad" finally hits theaters on Friday.

[via: Stan Lee, Joe Quesada]

Photo credit: Getty Images for IMDb