Director: David Gelb
Before he became the public face of a comic-book universe watched by billions, Stanley Lieber was a kid from New York City chasing a byline. "Stan Lee" traces that arc in the man's own words.
What is Stan Lee about?
Built almost entirely from archival interviews, home movies, and Lee's own narration recorded across decades, this documentary follows him from a Depression-era upbringing through his decades at a struggling comics outfit that would eventually become a cultural juggernaut. Director David Gelb resists the urge to turn the film into a highlight reel of superhero cameos; instead he lingers on the collaborations, credit disputes, and creative partnerships — with artists like Jack Kirby and Joe Simon — that shaped how the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, and the Avengers came into being. Marriage to Joan Lee, decades of business ups and downs, and Lee's late-career reinvention as a beloved industry ambassador all get room to breathe. The film treats its subject as a working writer and editor first, a showman second, letting contradictions between the two sit rather than resolving them for easy sentiment.
Cast & crew
The film leans on first-person testimony rather than reenactment: Stan Lee narrates much of his own story, with his wife Joan Lee, longtime Marvel colleague Flo Steinberg, editor Julius Schwartz, and collaborators Roy Thomas and Joe Simon filling out the picture of the offices where these characters were born. Jack Kirby's contributions, and the friction they sometimes caused, are addressed directly rather than smoothed over.
Context & significance
Released in 2023, the documentary arrives well after Lee's 2018 death, giving it access to a fuller archive of interviews and a clearer vantage on his legacy than films made during his lifetime could offer. At 86 minutes it stays tightly focused on biography rather than franchise history, which keeps the pacing brisk for viewers who already know the characters and want the human story behind them.
Where & how to watch
The documentary is available with Farsi dubbing on K-Time, so Persian-speaking viewers can follow Lee's own narration in their own language. A free K-Time account is all that's needed to start watching — the catalog page itself is open to browse without signing in, and the interface is built for a Farsi-first audience.