Elder abuse of Stan Lee to be subject of new documentary
A new documentary is in the works about late comic book writer Stan Lee. However, it isn’t about the iconic characters he created, instead, it’s about the alleged mistreatment he suffered in the last few years of his life.
Lee, who died in 2018 at the age of 95, co-created some of Marvel’s most famous superheroes, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, and Black Widow. He was instrumental in turning the small comic book publisher into one of the most lucrative creative companies in the world, and he got to witness its domination of Hollywood later in life.
According to the documentary Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, however, his last years were marred by warring factions trying to seize control of his estate. His former assistant, Jon Bolerjack, is behind the documentary and is running a Kickstarter campaign to get it financed. He claims that he was filming many of the abusive interactions as they happened and that the footage will be part of the film.
“Jon gained unprecedented access and filmed everything he saw,” the Kickstarter description reads. “What he uncovered was a thriving market where Stan’s signatures and memorabilia were converted into huge piles of cash and rival hucksters double-crossed each other to control Stan’s fortune.”
Speculation regarding Lee being subjected to elder abuse is not new. Shortly before his death, The Hollywood Reporter ran an extensive story outlining the battle over his wealth, citing a legal declaration he made in February 2018 about three men who had “insinuated themselves” into his daughter’s life “for an ulterior motive and purpose” to take advantage of the comic book mogul and “gain control over [his] assets, property and money.”
It also detailed his troubled relationship with his daughter and alleged that her verbal abuse sometimes turned physical.
The Kickstarter campaign for Bolerjack’s documentary has already raised more than $26,000 of its $300,000 goal.
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