Stan Lee

Available on Disney+ now

This career retrospective of the late Marvel Comics head honcho Stan Lee, an undoubted pop culture icon, is a frustratingly glib procedural that doesn’t really shed any more light on its topic’s life than a brief perusal of Wikipedia would.

Perhaps director David Gelb was operating under the well-known weight of the MCU straightjacket, but there is a distinct lack of critical thought within this documentary which, given the ubiquity of Marvel as we now know it and its subsequent impact on cinema, leaves the whole affair feeling like something of a missed opportunity.

Nonetheless, Lee’s own narration ensures that his passion for comic books is sufficiently conveyed, and Gelb’s experimentation with 3D miniature tableaux, which he uses to recreate certain moments in Lee’s life, make this a fleeting visual delight. Alas, the unwillingness to meaningfully evaluate Marvel’s impact on contemporary culture makes this an unfittingly dull experience.