Stan Lee – Review
86 Minutes, TV-PG
Directed by David Gelb
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
From Marvel Studios and acclaimed director David Gelb, Stan Lee is the official documentary film about Stan “The Man” Lee and his journey to become one of the most influential people in the world of comic books and pop culture. Tracing his life from his challenging upbringing as Stanley Lieber to the meteoric rise of Marvel Comics, Stan Lee tells Stan’s story in his own words. Using only archival material—from personal home video, interviews and audio recordings—the film examines Stan’s origin story and what emerged from it: a far-reaching universe of stories with three-dimensional characters that have resonated with people all over the world. In this way, “Stan Lee” is both a story of comics and passion, and an intimate portrait of a man, his philosophy and its lasting impression.
Yep. The “Official” documentary film.
This is a hard movie to critique, to be honest. If you’re a comic book fan, Marvel Comics specifically, then you know–or at least you like to think you know–Stan Lee.
I know I do.
Uncle Stan. Stan the Man. Etc.
But like so many larger-than-life people, all is not as it seems with Stanley Martin Lieber, especially when it comes to an “official” biography from the company that owns the IP which owes much of its public cachet to the image of that individual.
The longtime Marvel Comics infighting between Stan and legendary artists such as Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby has been well-documented over the years, and while this documentary does grant them a few minutes of air-time near the end of the incredibly short run-time, it does so only in passing, though I give director David Gelb credit for including the audio of a radio conversation between Stan and Kirby in which the basics of the conflict are exposed: what is “creation?”
True, Stan Lee possessed an outsized ego which fed itself on public attention and adoration to the exclusion of all others. While not a full-on narcissist, Stan likely suffered instead from a bit of Imposter Syndrome, as he continually referenced whether “comicbooks” were a legitimate endeavor or not. Publicly he affirms this idea again and again, but it often feels as if he does so more to convince himself than critics.
What cannot be argued is that Marvel would simply not be in the position it is had Stan Lee not been placed (or moved himself, depending) at the forefront as the face of the company and by extension, the industry.
It was the ubiquitous nature of Stan which propelled Marvel to the heights it reached, helping it rebound from the self-inflicted, industry-wide publishing calamities of the 1990s. It is impossible to deny his importance at that macro level, even with the debates over how much or little influence he had at the micro level in terms of character “creation.”
There is much to learn from this documentary, provided you are willing to set aside your predispositions (in either direction) about the man going in.
Stan Lee is certainly worth the watch, though for a great look at Marvel Comics from birth through the current state of Disney’s MCU, I would still recommend the Vice television series Icons Unearthed: Marvel.
Stan Lee is currently streaming exclusively on Disney+.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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