Superman. Spiderman. Batman. Antman. Winning with super powers is easy. A walk in the park. Little of a challenge. Heroic? Not really. Merely using what’s given to them. These super beings never really spoke to me. Did not make my heart beat faster. Not gained any specific admiration. No posters in my room. No stack of comic books. It’s the underdog who rises to the top that gets me excited. Always has.

Whether it was a young man coming from a simple laborer background, growing up in the belly of industrial Manchester working as a civil servant. A man who ended up creating sounds of hope and optimism to millions through a deep melancholic, symphonic and dark music movement. Ian Curtis (Joy Division).

Or stubborn ‘simple’ souls who look at the world uniquely, and believe in challenging the establishment. Starting with nothing. He who brings out the best in people around him, by nurturing the rebel, embracing differences and aims to improve with purpose. Keep moving frontiers. Richard Branson (Eternal Virgin).

Or the odd ones, who stand out by who they are, what they look like and their awkward way of being. Foolish but determined. The ones you can unexpectedly rely on in time of need. The one who changes and actually always stays the same. The crazy uncle everyone wants to have, and actually should have. Lambik (Suske & Wiske) or Uncle Fester (The Adams Family).

It’s the unnatural natural. The one from Wisconsin, not from New York. The one who triggers all the laughs without laughing. The one who sounds like a nightingale without an angelic voice. The one who outwits everyone without necessarily having all the smarts. The one who gets the girls without the finesse of a casanova. The one who looks good without the standard features of a model. Bushy uncontrolled curly hair but with these telling blue eyes and eternal expression of honesty.

Gene Wilder!

The Producers. Stir Crazy. The Woman in Red. Willy Wonka. And off course as the alcoholic gunslinger Jim aka ‘The Waco Kid’ in Blazing Saddles – the ultimate anti-hero classic movie.

Gene you were genius. Bowie. Prince. Muhammad Ali. Move over.

#RIPGeneWilder