Forbes: What does the deal mean for your characters?
Lee: It means new opportunities across the entire entertainment industry. There will be TV shows, DVDs, theme park attractions.
The entire article
Stan Lee On The Disney Deal
Spider Man's creator sees good things ahead.
LOS ANGELES -- Disney announced this week it is spending $4 billion to acquire to Marvel Entertainment's 5,000 or so comic book characters. Much of that value is a result of the work of Stan Lee, the Bronx-bred former writer and editor who imagined beloved Marvel superheroes such as Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men.
Lee sued Marvel over profit participation in movies based on his characters but settled the claim in 2005 and has since served as "chairman emeritus" of the company.
Forbes spoke with Lee about his relationship with Disney ( DIS - news - people ), the new potential for his superheroes within a $38 billion entertainment conglomerate and which character he'd like to see on the big screen.
Forbes: What does the deal mean for your characters?
Lee: It means new opportunities across the entire entertainment industry. There will be TV shows, DVDs, theme park attractions.
Everything that Disney does, they do well. They are the best marketing company on the face of the earth and will market the hell out of these characters.
Marvel seems to be able to make some very successful movies out of these characters. Now they will work in conjunction with the greatest marketers in the world. It's nothing but a positive.
What about videogames? Disney has recently been expanding its in-house games unit.
Yes, I forgot to mention them. Marvel is already big in games, and I have even had a role in some of them. Activision is doing some of the most ones. I'm sure Disney will be very creative using the characters in games, and I can't wait to see the results.
What is your official role at Marvel?
I have the very prestigious title of "chairman emeritus." I don't have the foggiest idea what it means, and I can't imagine you do either. (Laughs.)
That said, I have a very good relationship with Marvel. I do the occasional story for them, and a lot of publicity and promotion. They have been a pleasure to work with.
I also have [multimedia production company] POW! Entertainment. It stands for, of course, Purveyors of Wonderment. What else could it be?!
We have a first-look deal with Disney to make movies out of our characters. If they want to produce something, it is wonderful. If they don't, it is equally wonderful because then I can sell it to someone else. We have three movies in development at Disney, as well as a project called Time Jumper--[a digital comic series]--which is available on cellphone via iTunes.
Marvel had previously produced some movies itself, like Iron Man, while licensing the intellectual property associated with characters like Spiderman to other studios. Disney has indicated they plan to make most Marvel movies in house. Do you think there is a benefit to having the same company producing all Marvel movies?
Even when there were other studios working on Marvel movies, you always had Marvel people there working alongside them. As long as there is continuity with people knowing what best qualities of the stories to keep in the movies, it's fine. Now, you will have those same Marvel people working within Disney.
Some people have suggested that all of the most interesting and best known Marvel characters, like the X-Men and Spiderman, have already been made into movies and that Disney will have a hard time creating new blockbusters out of what is left? What's your take on that analysis?
That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever been heard. That's like saying don't create another novel because all the good books have already been written.
No one would have gambled on Iron Man being a major hit. He was just another one of our characters. But it was done with such creativity by the people at Marvel that it was a huge success.
Which of the 5,000 or so Marvel characters would you like to see next in a movie?
We have a character called Dr. Strange. He's a master of the mystic arts.
I kind of like him because he is a magician, and we could get a lot of special effects. But it is still a story about a person with serious problems, like Iron Man.
Since Pow! Entertainment has a first-look deal with Disney, and Disney just acquired Marvel, is there a chance that you could create some new characters that could appear in movies with some of the older superheroes you came up with years ago for Marvel?
Absolutely. It is very synergistic and could definitely work. Look at Disney and Pixar.
Lee: It means new opportunities across the entire entertainment industry. There will be TV shows, DVDs, theme park attractions.
The entire article
Stan Lee On The Disney Deal
Spider Man's creator sees good things ahead.
LOS ANGELES -- Disney announced this week it is spending $4 billion to acquire to Marvel Entertainment's 5,000 or so comic book characters. Much of that value is a result of the work of Stan Lee, the Bronx-bred former writer and editor who imagined beloved Marvel superheroes such as Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk and the X-Men.
Lee sued Marvel over profit participation in movies based on his characters but settled the claim in 2005 and has since served as "chairman emeritus" of the company.
Forbes spoke with Lee about his relationship with Disney ( DIS - news - people ), the new potential for his superheroes within a $38 billion entertainment conglomerate and which character he'd like to see on the big screen.
Forbes: What does the deal mean for your characters?
Lee: It means new opportunities across the entire entertainment industry. There will be TV shows, DVDs, theme park attractions.
Everything that Disney does, they do well. They are the best marketing company on the face of the earth and will market the hell out of these characters.
Marvel seems to be able to make some very successful movies out of these characters. Now they will work in conjunction with the greatest marketers in the world. It's nothing but a positive.
What about videogames? Disney has recently been expanding its in-house games unit.
Yes, I forgot to mention them. Marvel is already big in games, and I have even had a role in some of them. Activision is doing some of the most ones. I'm sure Disney will be very creative using the characters in games, and I can't wait to see the results.
What is your official role at Marvel?
I have the very prestigious title of "chairman emeritus." I don't have the foggiest idea what it means, and I can't imagine you do either. (Laughs.)
That said, I have a very good relationship with Marvel. I do the occasional story for them, and a lot of publicity and promotion. They have been a pleasure to work with.
I also have [multimedia production company] POW! Entertainment. It stands for, of course, Purveyors of Wonderment. What else could it be?!
We have a first-look deal with Disney to make movies out of our characters. If they want to produce something, it is wonderful. If they don't, it is equally wonderful because then I can sell it to someone else. We have three movies in development at Disney, as well as a project called Time Jumper--[a digital comic series]--which is available on cellphone via iTunes.
Marvel had previously produced some movies itself, like Iron Man, while licensing the intellectual property associated with characters like Spiderman to other studios. Disney has indicated they plan to make most Marvel movies in house. Do you think there is a benefit to having the same company producing all Marvel movies?
Even when there were other studios working on Marvel movies, you always had Marvel people there working alongside them. As long as there is continuity with people knowing what best qualities of the stories to keep in the movies, it's fine. Now, you will have those same Marvel people working within Disney.
Some people have suggested that all of the most interesting and best known Marvel characters, like the X-Men and Spiderman, have already been made into movies and that Disney will have a hard time creating new blockbusters out of what is left? What's your take on that analysis?
That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever been heard. That's like saying don't create another novel because all the good books have already been written.
No one would have gambled on Iron Man being a major hit. He was just another one of our characters. But it was done with such creativity by the people at Marvel that it was a huge success.
Which of the 5,000 or so Marvel characters would you like to see next in a movie?
We have a character called Dr. Strange. He's a master of the mystic arts.
I kind of like him because he is a magician, and we could get a lot of special effects. But it is still a story about a person with serious problems, like Iron Man.
Since Pow! Entertainment has a first-look deal with Disney, and Disney just acquired Marvel, is there a chance that you could create some new characters that could appear in movies with some of the older superheroes you came up with years ago for Marvel?
Absolutely. It is very synergistic and could definitely work. Look at Disney and Pixar.
