On paper, the idea of a documentary about Stan Lee’s life narrated by archive recordings of the Man himself seemed like a terrible idea, for several reasons. Firstly, the idea of stitching together various interviews (where he sounds jarringly different at times because of the ages they were recorded at) does not seem like it would make for a compelling narrative. Director David Gelb overcomes this in several ways, the most striking of which is the use of dioramas to depict unfilmed events in Lee’s life, beginning with his childhood in Depression era New York. Coupled with home movies, photos, older public footage, slightly animated comic book panels, and contemporaneous news clips, it all makes sure Lee’s (admittedly charismatic) voice doesn’t wear out its welcome.
The second major issue was, how could you rely on Lee to provide an unbiased account of his life, and the creation of the Marvel Universe as we know it? Lee fortunately proves to be a surprisingly candid host, and Gelb is not afraid to let his viewers see a darker, flawed side of the iconic Old Guy With the Sunglasses, literally letting his hypocrisy and insecurity about sharing credit with the likes of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko speak for itself. A major tonal shift comes in the last third of the film, when we hear a late ’80s radio interview with Kirby, where Lee drops in unannounced; it is truly uncomfortable to hear the two old men, who gave so much to the world, passive-aggressively argue over who counts as the writer of a finished product.
As well as Lee and Kirby, we hear from Joan Lee, Flo Steinberg, Captain America’s co-creator Joe Simon, Roy Thomas, and even DC’s Julius Schwartz (who comes across badly on his company’s behalf.) There are also various fans, whose admiration for Lee, and Lee alone, is slyly used to introduce the problem of him being seen as the sole creator of Marvel in the public consciousness, even though Lee points out he couldn’t have done it alone, and explains the Marvel Method in interviews. Vitally, Lee is also heard inflaming the issue while discussing his fallout with Ditko, where he implies only the person who conceives an idea is the creator.
Intriguingly, Kirby and Ditko’s faces are never shown during the diorama sequences. It makes sense with the notoriously private Ditko, whose voice is never heard either (coming across like Ben-Hur‘s depiction of Christ in the process), but odd with Kirby, since we hear him multiple times. Perhaps it was done out of respect for Kirby and his family, who probably wouldn’t have consented to his likeness being recreated in this, but it can be read as minimizing his presence as much as portraying him reverentially (again, like Christ in Ben-Hur); is Lee looking at the Face of God? Or are we as Kirby looking at God? Depends on how much you like this film.
Listening to Lee reflect on his life in a single sitting like this really throws the highs and lows of his life, and its ironies, into sharp relief. He tells us that as a child, he dreamed of being someone important, and that he was not proud of being a comic book writer until the early 1960s, when Marvel revolutionized the superhero genre, and mainstream comics as a whole. But at the same time as he championed comic books as a way to tell vital modern fables, he did not comprehend that his artists were his equals in creating their beloved characters.
Hearing him lament how becoming Marvel’s publisher meant he had to be a businessman instead of a writer will either make you feel like he was a victim of his own success, or that it was karma for what he did to Kirby and Ditko. And the capstone to all this? Being reminded Lee didn’t own any of his characters either. The documentary ends on an optimistic note with a montage of him shooting all his cameos in the MCU movies, although it is a similarly bittersweet reminder that a man who wanted to be remembered for doing something important, who encouraged deeper writing in comic books and challenged the Comics Code Authority, is now effectively a mascot for a multi-billion dollar film and TV corporation.
Continued belowOther insights gained include how Lee and Kirby’s relationship may’ve been colored by how Lee was only 17 when they met; how Spider-Man could’ve been a reflection of his experiences as a teenage editor; and how the Fantastic Four were a product of the Space Race (perspectives Gelb suggests via the dioramas and news footage, as he probably couldn’t find audio acknowledging that.) Otherwise, outside of his work at Marvel, and his marriage to Joan (whom we learn was very much the real Mary Jane Watson), Lee remains something of an enigma: since he never discussed it, we don’t hear him talk about his parents’ later life (even though he brings up his father’s financial troubles early on), the nonsense he created after retiring from Marvel, or his dreadful final years.
For a film that does inform viewers about the contentious history between Lee, Kirby and Ditko, Lee’s other collaborators are given short shrift, which is especially ironic given John Romita Sr.’s passing the week this was released. Only Roy Thomas is acknowledged before chipping in at the end as Lee’s successor in the role of editor-in-chief; otherwise, Romita, Don Heck, Gene Colan, Bill Everett, and Gil Kane, may as well be the uncreative laborers a non-comics fan might imagine them to be. Lee’s contribution to strong female characters is discussed, but Marie Severin is not, while Larry Lieber, Stan’s own brother, is simply acknowledged at the start as a sibling he wasn’t close to because they were born nine years apart.
Gelb’s film is ultimately a quietly absorbing and moving attempt at creating an autobiography through archive audio, that is not aimed at people with an intimate awareness of Marvel’s history, and the issues surrounding comic book creators’ rights, but those who only remember Lee as “the creator” who made funny cameos in all the movies. It reminds us of the good Lee did, battling the CCA to write topical children’s comics where superheroes confronted racism and drugs (something that sadly feels more pertinent than when Lee died), while making it clear he wasn’t perfect. It’s not warts-and-all, but I would recommend it as a starting point to friends and family, while raising the Kirby family’s point that even though Lee was writer and editor-in-chief at Marvel, he didn’t necessarily light the spark for every character either.
