Excelsior to the doc about this Marvel legend!

Stan Lee is immortal in everyone who loves comic books, nostalgia, and just about anything to do with the heart and valor of superheroes. He was also a great guy you want to get to know and a genius, who knew how to collaborate with others, even if he knew that coming up with an idea is the same thing as creating the superhero. The documentary “Stan Lee” is making its way to Disney+, and it serves as an honorable tribute to him, as he passed away in 2018, but still left his trademark and legacy with everyone who knew and loved him.

From “Fantastic Four” to “Captain America” to “Spider-Man” to “Iron Man” to Black Widow” to “Black Panther” to “X-Men,” he knew what comic brand to make them apart of. Marvel is that comic book brand we know and love. And with help from Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Joe Simon, among others, he was able to make these superheroes relate to people. He knew the right comedy, the right pathos, the right targets, and the right times to represent them.

Among the elements the film talks about, Stan met his wife Joan Boocock, who was a model, and it was love at first sight for the both of them. They also had one daughter named Joan Celia “J. C.” Lee, but lost another girl after birth.

In his youth, he was a big fan of Errol Flynn in the pictures and enjoyed reading books, ones that could really identity with him. And as he got older, he became an assistant at a Timely Comics division owned by Martin Goodman, where he developed a knack for making comics, and became editor-in-chief.

His full birth name is Stanley Martin Lieber, and so he used the pseudonym Stan Lee to make himself seem more popular.

And when I said ” he knew that coming up with an idea is the same thing as creating the superhero,” I’m talking about how he came up the concept of “Spider-Man,” while Steve Ditko drew the teenage superhero. These two got in a dispute about them being co-creators, when Ditko did most of the drawings. Lee believed that thinking up ideas is the same thing as creating, while Ditko thought otherwise.

“Stan Lee” is a little short to fully examine his life (running at 84 minutes), but his legacy is long enough for us to really absorb his life and times. The movie also used figures and models to represent his family and work life, which is much more attractive than the lame animation in “My Old School.” These figures have more feeling than what that film represented, especially since Lee doesn’t have every picture in his life, and he explains why.

It’s a shame that he couldn’t live to be 100 years old, but he still lived long enough to cameo in movies from “Iron Man” to “Captain Marvel,” to connect with fans worldwide, and to just be a great guy. Excelsior!

Streaming on Disney+ Tomorrow

Categories: Documentary