The coming year will once again see several chapters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to “Ant-Man 3”, “Guardians Of The Galaxy 3” and “Captain Marvel 2”, comic fans can now expect another absolute must-see. And it’s coming directly to Disney+!
The Marvel calendar for 2023 continues to fill up. With “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” (15 February), “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” (3 May) and “Captain Marvel 2: The Marvels” (26 July), we can expect no less than three new cinema films. In addition, a lot of new MCU series are being worked on – from “Secret Invasion” and “Ironheart” to “Echo” and the “WandaVision” spin-off “Agatha: Coven Of Chaos”. Now another new release has been announced that Marvel and superhero fans should definitely have on their watchlist.
Yesterday, 28 December, Marvel creator Stan Lee would have turned 100. To mark the occasion, the comic book company has confirmed that it will honour Lee in 2023 with a documentary that will pay tribute to the influential creative head – and will be released exclusively on Disney+ in the course of next year.
To get you in the mood, there’s also a first sneak preview, in which Disney has edited together clips from some of Lee’s most amusing short appearances in adaptations of his popular stories:
100 years of dreaming. 100 years of creating. 100 years of Stan Lee.
Stan Lee, an Original documentary, is streaming 2023 on @DisneyPlusStanLee100 StanLee pic.twitter.com/hJUdCXsS97
– Stan Lee (@TheRealStanLee) December 28, 2022
As one of the driving forces behind Marvel and one of the most defining figures in comic book history, Lee was particularly closely associated with the film adaptations of his superhero adventures. His brief guest appearances in all MCU blockbusters from “Iron Man” to “Avengers: Endgame” and many, many other Marvel adaptations – whether in “Baymax”, “X-Men” or “Fantastic Four” – are always legendary.
For Marvel connoisseurs, it was simply a matter of course that Lee would drop in at some point in the film. The disappointment was correspondingly great when it didn’t happen, for example because his cameo was cut from the film (e.g. in “Blade”).
DOCUMENTARY ON STAN LEE: ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2023 ON DISNEY+?
Together with Jack Kirby, Stan Lee created his first superhero squad back in 1961: the Fantastic Four. Shortly thereafter, he created such popular characters as Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and the X-Men, with Steve Ditko he brought Spider-Man and Doctor Strange to life, and with Bill Everett Daredevil. To this day, people talk about the greatest revolution the comic book world had ever seen – which Lee personified until shortly before his death on 12 November 2018.
In the early 1980s, he finally moved to California to bring Marvel comics to life in film and television as well. With tremendous success, as we know today. In addition to his now well-known brands, he also designed the “Governator” for Arnold Schwarzenegger, launched a superhero series with Pamela Anderson called “Stripperella” and even worked with cult Beatle Ringo Starr on an animated series dedicated to him (“Super Ringo”). In 2011, Lee received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
This underlines the fact that the eventful life of Stan Lee and the decades-long career of the Marvel icon would probably provide enough material for an entire documentary series. Whether “Stan Lee”, at least the provisional title of the documentary, will end up being “just” a film or a whole series remains to be seen.
For the author of this article, the documentaries on Disney+ are among the absolute highlights on the streaming platform – whether “Where No One Has Been: The Making-of ‘Ice Queen 2′”, “The Imagineering Story” or “Light & Magic”. And so the Stan Lee anniversary project definitely has what it takes to become one of the big highlights on Disney+.
