Stan Lee On The Spider-Man Reboot, Marvel's Upcoming Movies, Disney And More!

Stan Lee On The Spider-Man Reboot, Marvel's Upcoming Movies, Disney And More!

The comic book legend goes into detail about all of the above and shares his thoughts on Comic Con and more...

By JoshWilding - Jul 20, 2010 03:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics
Source: Newsarama

In an interview with Newsarama, Stan Lee has shared his thoughts on Marvel becoming a part of Disney, the upcoming movies from the studio, how he feels about the Spider-Man reboot, Comic Con and more! Here are some of the best parts from the interview but follow the link at the bottom of the page for more!

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On Marvel Joining The Disney Empire:

"I always likened our company to Disney. I felt, people loved the Disney characters and they loved our characters. Why couldn’t we grow like that? With the success of the Spider-Man and X-Men movies, everyone realized, 'Hey, we have a treasure trove here. Let’s take advantage of it.' Now that my little company POW! is part of Disney – they took a small stake in our company – and now that we’re working with Disney and I have offices that I go to twice a week on the Disney lot, it’s almost like a childhood dream come true for me."

On Future Marvel Studios Movies:

"I think Dr. Strange will do very well. I think the Black Panther, eventually, will do very well. Would you believe they’re even talking about doing Ant-Man? I think that will be a movie people will want to see, just because it would be so different. The nice thing about the Marvel characters is that all of them are so unique; they can find their own audience. I don’t think people will feel, 'Oh, I’ve seen that before.' Every one of them has their own unique qualities."

On The Spider-Man Reboot:

"He works well depending on how well he’s written. Everything depends on the script. He could be fascinating as a teenager, discovering his powers. When I wrote him, in the early days, he was a teenager for a long time, for many, many issues. Finally, after a few years, we got a lot of fan mail saying, ‘hey, isn’t it about time he grew up?’ So I had him go out of high school and into college. Eventually, he graduated from college and got married, but ... a teenager with super powers. Certainly you can get a lot of great stories out of that premise."

On How He Feels About Comic Con:

"Well, it’s gotten so big, and it’s so...it’s so professional. Now you have people, top names in movies and television and video games, and toys. Everything you can think of. There almost isn’t room for comic books. It used to be, when all of this started, you’d see a million kids hanging around, with a few adults. Parents who had to go because their son or daughter was too young to come alone. Now you see a zillion adults with a few kids, because the adults wanted to come and couldn’t leave the son home alone. It’s almost like it’s for grownups now."

On His Documentary, With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story:

"No I don’t think so. There’s very little about my so-called career that I don’t know. I lived through it (laughs). But it was fun seeing a lot of that old stuff. I have an archive at the University of Wyoming. The people producing the documentary had gone to the archive and they found photos and interviews from 30, 40, 50 years that I had forgotten all about. So that was very interesting to me personally. I hope it is to the viewers. They’ve been filming it for two years, and finally they’re going to show it at the Con. I’m kind of...excited about that, I guess."




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Suffertree
Suffertree - 7/20/2010, 4:05 PM
Stan the MAN Lee...I wanna see that documentary :o
continuezero
continuezero - 7/20/2010, 4:07 PM
Sometimes I wonder if Stan is even able to offer any critique of the evolution of his (and other's) original vision. I mean ya have to think when Stan started this, he obiously had an optimal scenario of success but when he started Comics were cult followings with restrictions on what they could print and write about. How characters were drawn and depicted were all controlled and regulated. Whereas today there is likely no limit to where a comic can venture (given various ratings). The evolution of the comic itself, into merchandise and licensing and movies. I mean Stan's original vision couldn't have imagined this level of success. I mean we're talkin Graphic Novels respected as legitimate pieces of literature. Movies featuring his characters and stories in 3-D. Massive theme parks featuring the characters. My original point would be given the level of success could Stan seriously and harshly critique anything that is being attempted with what he (and others) started decades ago. This is all Stan's dream, can he say anything really negative about any of it? I don't expect him to...but he's just always so positive it's hard to see him really ever criticising things like Ghostrider or Elektra or other things we bash on so hard? I almost walked out of Ghostrider (and I give every CBM a chance it was that brutal), does Stan have the balls to say that? Even if he likes GR, there's gotta be at least one movie where in his head he's like WTF.
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 7/20/2010, 4:15 PM
He's really awesome, does he ever say a bad thing about any of his company's films? I think he just likes seeing his creations come to life
StuckInPanels
StuckInPanels - 7/20/2010, 4:17 PM
@della....Punisher...at Disney.....that sounds improbable. Unless they willing to get their first R-Rated movie in like....EVER!!!
skullboy
skullboy - 7/20/2010, 4:34 PM
I remember when Stan used to care for his characters untill he got too money hungry that sacrifices should be made. I still hate the Disney merger cuz I see Disney as lame and too wholesome. Imagine characters like Ghost Rider and Blade getting the Disney treatment? It doesn't sound good.
Jeri
Jeri - 7/20/2010, 4:44 PM
CAPS LOCK MAKES ME STAND OUT!

HAR HAR!

...
Luigi
Luigi - 7/20/2010, 5:06 PM
@Aki: Kill Bill is technically by Disney, it's just distributed by Miramax. Punisher could be the same thing (although I think Punisher would work waaaaaaaaaaaaay better as a Showtime/HBO series than a movie).
continuezero
continuezero - 7/20/2010, 5:13 PM
@Luigi, Yeah that part about the Punisher TV Series makes way more sense. Part of Punisher's problem is the main villains are kind of a joke and they don't translate well into the big screen, but the story is great. Awesome idea...
continuezero
continuezero - 7/20/2010, 5:24 PM
@ Anil Rickly, Yeah I kinda thought that too...there's ton's of characters out there and they pick Ant Man? I like his character, Pym's always got something to say but at the end of the day he's just a guy that controls Ants and discovered Pym Particles. Giant Man makes more sense to me, but yeah Ants? How does that translate onto the screen?
Jimiboy234
Jimiboy234 - 7/20/2010, 5:53 PM
Stan Lee is the shit!! @#$%
BIGBMH
BIGBMH - 7/20/2010, 6:04 PM
Stan is so positive. It's hard not to love the guy. Reading his interviews kind of puts me in a goood mood.
ZombieOverEasy
ZombieOverEasy - 7/20/2010, 6:22 PM
I don't understand the Disney hate.

Disney is/has been involved with many non-wholesome, mature/adult themed things. Miramax Films has been owned by Disney since 1993 and they've released all kinds of no-so-wholesome things.

I don't see why anyone is in-fear of their favorite characters getting the "Disney treatment". Thus far, Marvel has remained an almost separate entity and has operated almost identical to how it operated prior to the Disney purchase. Disney is intelligent, if something is making money, buy it and let it keep making you money. I don't see Disney making any changes until Marvel loses them money, which I HIGHLY doubt will happen anytime soon.

Back on-topic: Stan is always so optimistic about things, it's contagious. Funny that he and Marvel both ended up at Disney separately.
IsaiahBradley
IsaiahBradley - 7/20/2010, 6:22 PM
Seriously what's taking so long for Marvel to their most popular black characters Luke Cage and Black Panther. Cmon with it.
eleven59
eleven59 - 7/20/2010, 6:24 PM
the more mature titles could easily be co-made under a non-disney name. the first and most important goal is to just get them back!!
goldilocks
goldilocks - 7/20/2010, 6:54 PM
I've been saying "In Stan We Trust." No longer. He's sold out to the Mickey Mouse Club. God help us all.
TheStranger
TheStranger - 7/20/2010, 7:26 PM
*crosses fingers* please make the Dr. Strange movie awesome, we have the CGI and we have the effects, pleeeease do it right...if not for me then for Stan :P
MassExecutions
MassExecutions - 7/20/2010, 7:30 PM
Ditto to Luigi. He nailed it down.

Disney is not inherently evil. They want to make money and studios are realizing that GOOD comic book movies make money, not just any old comic book movie. Plus, they have tons of money to throw at these things if they think they will be successful.

Actually, Stan seems kind of toned down in this interview.
THEHAWK
THEHAWK - 7/20/2010, 7:42 PM
Gotta love Stan. He is the man!
golden123
golden123 - 7/20/2010, 8:17 PM
@ZombieOvrEasy: Great minds think alike, You were exactly right.
On another note: Where would the world be without Stan Lee, Oh, that's right without great characters.
STAN IS THE MAN
RedDevil
RedDevil - 7/20/2010, 10:54 PM
I trust Disney. They actually have a great record with Pixar and their premiere films. Stan Lee is right about Doctor Strange cus it's happening and fast! Ant man should be interesting but I'm not a fan of the character. I know Nova does not belong to Stan but I would love to see him make a movie appearance. He does not need a origin story:) Nova can be used as a side character in the big screen. While in the animation department like Pixar, Guardians of the Galxay and Nova can kick cosmic ass.
AverageCitizen99
AverageCitizen99 - 7/21/2010, 5:12 AM
Nice find Josh. It's good to hear he knows how to obviously write the Spider-Man character, especially for a film.

P.S.
If you could, could you vote on these polls I made?

Here is my Venom poll:


And here is a minor poll for an editorial I'm planning:



comicb00kguy
comicb00kguy - 7/21/2010, 6:34 AM
Okay, nobody else spotted the line about Parker being in high school for "many, many issues" before he graduated from high school? Wasn't it really like around issue #28 or so if memory serves? "Many, many" would infer to me something much closer to around issue 100 or so. Sounds like ole Lee's memory is starting to go! Now, the Ultimate Spidey has remained in high school for well over 100 issues, but that's a whole different thing.

JimOakley: Great post! Just the good laugh I needed to get the workday off to a good start!
MassExecutions
MassExecutions - 7/21/2010, 6:37 AM
@jimoakley666 - scream about Stan all you want, but there is no logical way to deny that without him, we wouldn't be here. Maybe he's a jerk (though I suspect not) but he took the industry to a level that nobody else did.
MassExecutions
MassExecutions - 7/21/2010, 9:43 AM
@bropous - Nice! Love that real world reference.
statzy95
statzy95 - 7/21/2010, 10:47 AM
His response to Comic Con is exactly why they need to do some R rated CBM's
jjmeylar
jjmeylar - 7/21/2010, 11:19 AM
"With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story" needs to come to dvd so I can see it.
Sturmpionier
Sturmpionier - 7/24/2010, 1:10 PM
This man is such a gifted storyteller that nearly 50 years after his earliest work we are not only still talking about it, we are constantly looking forward to their expansion. Stan Lee is truly one of the artistic geniuses in human history. He took simple, universal, ideas and covered them with a veneer of the fantastic and has just as much to say in his late 80's. If Stan Lee says it, it's still good enough for me.
evil1rox
evil1rox - 7/27/2010, 10:43 AM
"Punisher...at Disney.....that sounds improbable. Unless they willing to get their first R-Rated movie in like....EVER!!!"

-Incorrect! Disney founded Touchstone so they could develope movies with R ratings and not hurt the wholesome Disney image. There are many...MANY R rated movies that ae technically Disney movies ;)
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