The story of comic book legendStan Leeis finally coming to the big screen! Kind of. Yes, Marvel Comics iconStan Leewill be the subject of an upcoming movie, but it will not be atraditional biopic. Instead, it will be an action movie set in the 1970s, said to have the same tone asKingsman: The Secret Serviceor theRoger MooreBond movies of the 1970s.
The Hollywood Reporterwas the first to break the news stating that Twentieth Century Fox had acquired the life rights forStan Lee. The studio has produced many movies about characters thatLeehelped create, such asFantastic Fourand a whole bunch ofX-Menmovies. Now, it will be the man himself who is getting thebig screen treatment, albeit a somewhat fictionalized and sensationalized version of the pop culture icon.
Marty BowenandWyck Godfrey, who have produced movies likeTwilight,The Maze Runnerand the upcomingPower Rangersreboot, are attached to produce the untitledStan Leeaction movie.Leehimself andGil Champion, who is Lee’s partner at his company POW! Entertainment, are set to executive produce the project. We can also safely assume that, even thoughLeeis a bit too old to play himself in the movie, he will surelycameoin some way, much like he has done in many of the Marvel movies.
Stan Lee’s actual life story is one that would seem to lend itself quite nicely to a more straightforward biopic. He grew up very poor in New York and started working with Timely Comics at the age of 17 in 1939. He had aspirations of writing the “Great American Novel,” but instead on the advice of his wife, wrote what he truly wanted to write before leaving the comic book business. That led to his collaborations withSteve DitkoandJack Kirby, who withLeewent on to create countlesslegendary characterssuch as theFantastic Four,X-Men,The Incredible Hulk,Doctor Strange,Spider-Manand many others. In the 70s, Lee ventured to Hollywood in order to try and bring his creations to the big screen, which eventually did happen with great success, but not until the 2000s. The rest, as they say, is history.
No writer ordirectoris yet attached to thisStan Leeaction movie, so the project could alter a bit as it moves forward. More importantly, nobody is yet attached to playLeein the movie, but we already have a pretty good idea. A couple of months ago a fan-made poster forStan Leebiopic surfaced featuringBryan Cranstonas the man himself. While that casting seemed perfect at the time, it somehow seems even more perfect thinking of it as a wacky 70s action movie. We can only dream. We will be sure to keep you updated as more details on the project emerge.
