Stan Lee needs to be rescued
Image of Stan Lee (Getty Images / Gabriel Olsen)
By Esmond Hoang staff writer
On November 12, 2018 the creator of Spiderman and other superheroes Stan Lee died at 95. His legacy throughout his life was vast, however he suffered through years of abuse. Seven years after his death, people around him still use his likeness for profit.
Back in his early years at 16, Lee started working at Marvel Comics as a writer. Lee created the iconic Spiderman, Fanatic Four, and the Hulk. Especially, when first making Spiderman he wanted characters to seem relatable to teenagers. These characters were a hit with audiences and each has a movie after them. However, Lee had trouble getting the rights for these characters. With the first Spiderman movie trilogy, Lee gained nothing from it. He later sued in 2002 and settled for about 10 million dollars, however this would not be the last time he went to court.
When Lee was in his 80s, his income was mostly from attending fan conventions and signing. Notable people that worked for him were Kaya Morgan and Max Anderson as they were some of the managers for Lee. Both of them have heavy accusations of elder abuse and videos of them pushing Lee. At his last convention in Silicon Valley, videos of Morgan and Anderson showed them grabbing Lee’s hand and spelling out his name to sign faster. In 2019, Kaya Morgan had a lawsuit against him filed by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) a few months before his death. Max Anderson was later sued as well by Stan Lee’s daughter.
Lee’s assistant Jon Bolerjack tried producing a documentary about the abuse that Lee faced called Lee, the Final Chapter. Bolerjack filmed it during the last four years of his life and never revealed this until seven months ago. Notably, through his trailer the producer asked for $300,000 for the completed product.
The clip released for promotion called “Never Over” implies Lee was forced to make public appearances by someone without his consent. Bolerjack told a confused Lee, “It’s never over” when Lee asked if he was done. Max Anderson walked over to see him and Lee remarked that they got their money’s worth which Anderson said “every penny.” Then Bolerjack injects and calls him “worth five pennies". The outrage of fans made him cancel the Kickstarter after collecting $85,000. As of now he has not released the full footage.
During LA Comic con this year an Al version of Lee was there. This was decided by the company who owns LA Comic Con and the Lee Universe who control his likeness. After seven years, people could interact with this reanimated Lee, however It’s not really him. There’s no way of knowing if he consented to this fake as this wasn’t inconceivable for the time. The AI was trained off on videos, interviews, and writing, but was an imitation as there is no way of knowing what is in his head.
Lee's influence is immeasurable, and he has been like a real life super hero around the world. The first Spiderman movie made over 800,000 dollars and is one of the most iconic movies of the decade. Lee also appears in cameos in many other Marvel properties. A statement from long-time Marvel fan and teacher, Micheal Weldon, “His whole life he’s been a creative person so I think that's really cool”. Weldon grew up with cartoons and comics during his high school years.
One in 10 elders in America face elder abuse, and even someone as famous as Stan Lee can be a victim. The people around Lee all claimed to love him, however he was isolated and alone. We need to be more critical of people around our senior citizens. Although Lee was not able to get the help he deserved, we can always take care of the people around us.