I have been looking forward to this documentary since I first heard about it. Stan Lee is one of my idols. He helped shape my childhood and helped make me the person I have become through his imagination and creativity. His influence is massive for me.

So a documentary on his life streaming on Disney +? Well, I was all in on it.

Stan Lee, the documentary by David Gelb told us, in his own words, the story of Stanley Lieber, a comic book writer who helped revolutionize the industry and who helped create a mythology of today with some of the most recognizable characters in all of pop culture.

Stan Lee nearly narrated this entire doc from clips of him giving interviews and other public appearances, and this gave us a real insight on the ‘character’ of Stan Lee, the larger-than-life, braggadocio whose super heroes helped inspire a generation.

This documentary focuses on the positives of Stan Lee’s life. I would not go as far as to call it a ‘puff piece’ but there were areas of Stan Lee’s life that was just barely touched upon that could have made this an even more enjoyable documentary.

For example, the documentary truly popped when it played a clip of a radio show where Jack Kirby, Stan Lee’s longtime collaborator and one of the most successful and prolific comic book artists of all time, was being interviewed and Stan called in to wish him a happy birthday. The conversation between the two icons got away from the host and the conflicts between Stan and Jack came out. Those few seconds of the doc were as compelling as anything and I would have loved to hear more about that.

They also touched on the conflict between Stan and Steve Ditko. This, along with the conflict with Kirby, was based around the credit on who actually created certain characters. Was it the writer who came up with the idea or was it the artists who created the visual concept? Again, this idea was brushed across in this doc but really could have been the center of a major piece of the doc. It is a section that I would have loved to hear more about.

Stan also mentioned a time when Marvel Comics had been sold and he went from having a lifetime contract to having a two-year deal. He said he was not happy about that, but the doc does not go into much detail or specifics on this.

While the documentary did not dive into the controversies of his life, the doc was very entertaining dealing with the positives of Stan Lee’s life. His story of the creation of the Fantastic Four, about how the Spider-Man character became published, the creation of Black Panther all were fascinating, and hearing them from Stan’s own words made it all the more special.

This was a fun reflection on the parts of Stan Lee’s life that led to the iconic Marvel Comics. While I would have loved to have some of the doc go into more depth with the ‘warts’ of the man, what we got was still engaging and entertaining. Much like Stan Lee himself.

3.75 stars