A new documentary on Marvel Comics co-creator Stan Lee claims that Lee was mistreated and exploited by some of those in his inner circle during the last few years of his life.
Jon Bolerjack, a comic book artist and a former assistant to Lee during the last four years of Lee’s life, filmed the documentary and on Tuesday launched a Kickstarter campaign looking for funding to complete the film, titled “Stan Lee: The Final Chapter.” In a trailer for the movie, Bolerjack says Lee spent “his final years enduring mistreatment, manipulation, and betrayal at the hands of a few very bad actors.”
Bolerjack says the film includes interviews with other witnesses close to Lee and with comic book creators like Rob Liefeld and Roy Thomas. It also concludes with a string of interviews with other comic book artists who have seen an early cut of the footage discussing what they say are some of the shocking details.
“Seeing Stan in that situation, being taken advantage of, was really hard to watch,” artist Tyler Kirkham says in the trailer.
“I had no idea how badly he had been exploited, and that’s a message people need to hear,” comic book writer Mark Waid added.
Lee, who passed away in 2018 at age 95, was the subject of an investigation from THR shortly before his death in which it was claimed that he was the victim of elder abuse and had other individuals improperly influencing his family members and worked to gain control of his assets and money. Lee’s estate in 2023 lost an elder abuse lawsuit on a technicality against a former attorney, but Bolerjack’s documentary claims to explore other aspects of Lee’s exploitation.
The trailer for the documentary does not name any individuals specifically, but it has several sequences involving Max Anderson, Lee’s former road manager for many of his convention appearances. Anderson was named in THR’s 2018 investigation, though he has denied wrongdoing.
Bolerjack is seeking $300,000 through Kickstarter in order to complete “Stan Lee: The Final Chapter.” The money will go toward finishing post-production, paying some of the volunteer crew, and to various legal fees.
