The late Stan Lee co-created some of the most enduring icons of the last century. There’s almost no one alive who hasn’t heard of Spider-Man, the X-Men, or the Avengers. When Stan Lee died at age 95 back in 2018, everyone celebrated his legacy. Yet few knew how filled with chaos his last few years actually were. Now, via The Hollywood Reporter, we’ve learned of a new documentary called Stan Lee: The Final Chapter. It’s from filmmaker Jon Bolerjack, who was at Stan’s side for the last four years of his life, documenting everything. And a lot of what he saw was that those around him were taking advantage of the legendary creator.
You can see a trailer for this Stan Lee-centric documentary, via Bolerjack’s Kickstarter campaign, right here:
Bolerjack was by Stan Lee’s side as he went to convention after convention, signing and taking photos for hours with Marvel fans, despite his very advanced age. All in an effort by those around him to milk the Stan Lee cash-cow for as long as they could. Although allegations came to light around the time of Lee’s death about elder abuse from those inside his inner circle, Bolerjack claims he has hours of footage of that bad behavior recorded in his documentary about Stan Lee. He also has hours of footage of legendary comic book creators like Mark Waid (Daredevil) and others sharing their stories about what they saw firsthand.
Even though there were whispers about much of this abuse at the time, according to the original report, Bolerjack says things were even worse than anyone knew. He also asserts that Stan Lee was in financial ruin at the time of his death in November 2018. It’s hard to imagine that the man who co-created the bulk of Marvel’s most iconic characters was broke. Especially since at the time of his death, Marvel movies had collectively made $30 billion dollars. And that’s not counting decades of merchandise sales. This documentary appears heartbreaking, but it’s good that the truth will finally be known about Stan Lee’s life. To learn more about Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, be sure to head over to the film’s official Kickstarter page.