Stan Lee
Like most comic origin stories, this one is far-fetched
Disney's Stan Lee documentary is more legend than truth.
In 1922 New York, a hero was born. Instead of being bitten by a spider or turning into a green monster when he was angry, this one had the enviable power of storytelling. And with this great power came the great responsibility…to take credit for nearly everything Marvel Comics produced since its inception.
Note: I came here to review a movie, not bury a legend. I once spent six hours in line waiting to meet Stan Lee and get a Spider-Man comic signed. I know who the man is and what he means to comics, which is why a film that glosses over anything even remotely unpleasant about Lee feels like an insult instead of a celebration.
It seems that Disney and Marvel have the hero’s journey formula down so well that they’re now applying it to every piece of media they release. Stan Lee isn’t so much a documentary as it is a hagiography, which casts Marvel Comics’ most recognizable creator as his own form of a superhero. It was Lee who wrote all the stories. Lee came up with every idea. Lee tirelessly turned Marvel into the powerhouse it is today.
The frustrating bit in this narrative is that some of it is true. Lee is unquestionably an important writer, publisher, and pitchman for not only Marvel but comics in general. His charm and candor as he speaks about humanizing superheroes are some of the reasons he’s endured as a beloved figure. His work left an indelible mark on the art form of comic books, influenced movies, and most importantly fought the censorship of the oppressive Comics Code Authority, allowing other artists to publish new and more interesting stories. The man is well and truly a legend.
But director David Gelb seems incredibly uninterested in the other legends that may or may not have helped make Marvel the powerhouse it is today. Artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko warred with Lee over who got credit for creations like Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four. While the documentary flirts with these controversies, it has no interest in giving Ditko or Kirby any chance to make their case — they’re simply temperamental creatives who didn’t appreciate Lee’s vision or process.
It’s easy to understand why Disney and Marvel wish to lionize Lee, but in a movie that is superficially calling itself a documentary, it’s a bit troubling that the collaborators who helped craft some of the most iconic comic characters of all time are given such little credit. It’s like watching a documentary on Apple Computers that reports Steve Jobs created the operating systems while Steve Wozniak stood by clapping and suggesting colors for the keyboard.
It’s also unfair to Lee’s legacy. This was a man known for creating complex characters, and for giving his heroes humanity. But what we get with Stan Lee is the Superman narrative, which is not only uninteresting but the wrong company entirely. He’s not a benevolent god, he’s a flawed man who helped create something extraordinary. I think he’d agree that’s more interesting.
But beyond erasing the contributions of some brilliant Marvel artists, Stan Lee also doesn’t really tell you much about the subject. The film skips decades at a time and is almost pathologically upbeat. The death of Lee’s second child is mentioned, but only in one sentence. The death of his wife is skipped entirely. Any and all troubles he had with his position at Marvel as the company grew and expanded are glossed over as if they never happened. We also conveniently forget all those terrible Marvel movies that happened before Robert Downey Jr. smote the ground and Iron Man emerged. It erases both the good (The Incredible Hulk TV show) and the bad (Do you remember 1989’s Dolph Lundgren’s The Punisher? Pepperidge Farm remembers.) that happened outside of Disney and Marvel Studios’ control.
Still, if Stan Lee is viewed as a loving tribute to a complicated figure, it certainly works in that respect. It certainly works as a showcase for the man’s charisma and publicity skills and it’s a worthy origin story for a fictional hero. But I fear that only people who know nothing about comics will find this film edifying. It may be a good jumping-off point for kids, to get them interested in reading about the true origins of Marvel Comics, but please be sure that they get a broader and more accurate view of what actually happened.
Verdict: A documentary that plays fast and loose with the facts, this works better as a superhero origin story than a biography.
Stan Lee is rated PG and is available June 16 on Disney+.
