Tribeca Film Festival Hosts World Premiere of Stan Lee Documentary About Jewish Marvel Comics Visionary

Shiryn Ghermezian

Stan Lee gestures as he poses at the premiere of “Iron Man 3” at El Capitan theater in Hollywood, California, April 24, 2013. Photo: Reuters / Mario Anzuoni / File.

Stan Lee, the Jewish Marvel Comics legend who co-created some of the most iconic superheroes in pop culture, is the focus of a new documentary making its world premiere this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival before it premieres on the Disney+ streaming platform.

The writer, scripter and editor — who was born in 1922 as Stanley Martin Lieber to Jewish immigrants from Romania — co-created Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Thor, Silver Surfer, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, The Avengers and hundreds of other beloved characters, according to Marvel. He made cameos in several pages of Marvel Comics and in many Marvel Studios films. Lee died in November 2018 at the age of 95.

The 86-minute film by director David Gelb, simply titled Stan Lee, features personal footage about Lee’s career that have never before been shown to the public as well as voice recordings, interview clips and newsreels. Some of Lee’s closest colleagues also talk in the film about his life and legacy such as comic book publisher Flo Steinberg, who once was Lee’s secretary. The film is produced by Gelb as well as Jason Sterman and Brian McGinn with cinematography done by Ernesto Lomeli. Jeff Redmond, Andy Heyward, Gill Champion, Jamie McBriety and Sarah Regan serve as executive producers.

Lee began his career in comics as a teenager in 1939. He also wrote a personal column called “Stan’s Soapbox” that ran in every Marvel comic published between 1967 through 1980.

Stan Lee will screen in-person as part of the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10, 11 and 18, but will also be available for purchase and viewing as part of the Tribeca at Home online platform. The documentary will begin streaming on Disney+ on June 16.

Watch the trailer for Stan Lee below.