About

Stan Lee: The Final Chapter is an upcoming documentary directed by Jon Bolerjack, who claims to have worked closely with Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee during the last four years of his life. The film aims to shed light on the alleged mistreatment and exploitation Lee endured from his former business associates in his final years. To fund the project's completion, Bolerjack launched a Kickstarter campaign in March 2025, seeking $300,000. The documentary subsequently sparked controversy online, with critics questioning Bolerjack's decision to release the film nearly seven years after Lee's death in 2018 and expressing concerns about his role in exploiting Stan Lee during his final years.

History

Stan Lee, the co-creator of numerous Marvel superheroes, passed away on November 12th, 2018, at the age of 95.

On March 11th, 2025, Stan Lee's former assistant Jon Bolerjack announced plans for a documentary titled Stan Lee: The Final Chapter, aiming to shed light on the challenges Lee faced towards the end of his life. To support the project's completion, Bolerjack launched a Kickstarter^[1] campaign on March 11th seeking to raise $300,000.

Discussing Film shared a video Bolerjack recorded to promote his film to X^[2] on March 11th, gathering over 4 million views and 41,000 likes in three days.

First trailer for ‘STAN LEE: THE FINAL CHAPTER’, a documentary about how Stan Lee was exploited by his former business partners for financial gain.The doc was made by Jon Bolerjack, who worked closely with Stan Lee during the last 4 years of Lee’s life. pic.twitter.com/PMJzU3EXij

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) March 11, 2025

Also on March 11th, the X^[3] account @DramaAlert reposted a clip from the documentary, writing, "First clip of 'STAN LEE: THE FINAL CHAPTER' / New documentary detailing Stan Lee's final years being EXPLOITED by former business partners allegedly. 💔" The post gathered over 140,000 likes in three days.

First clip of 'STAN LEE: THE FINAL CHAPTER'New documentary detailing Stan Lee's final years being EXPLOITED by former business partners allegedly. 💔pic.twitter.com/rAULM62Tk8

— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) March 11, 2025

Online Reactions

On March 11th, 2025, Twitter^[6] user @WeaponNR wrote, "Remember when they stole Stan Lee's blood? Remember when someone forced Stan out to conventions when he was sick to sign autographs? The kidnapping attempt? The hostage style videos? Like Stan or not, there's no excuse for that shit." The post gathered over 3,000 likes in three days.

Also on March 11th, YouTuber Cr1TiKaL (penguinz0) uploaded a video titled "Stan Lee Exploitation Documentary is Crazy," about the film, with many users criticizing Bolerjack in the comment section. The video received nearly 2.5 million views, 114,000 likes and 7,300 comments in three days.

Several internet users criticized Jon Bolerjack's decision to release the film nearly seven years after Lee's death in 2018 and expressed concerns about his role during the alleged exploitation, suggesting he could have intervened earlier. Additionally, some found the Kickstarter rewards, such as tours of locations where the harm purportedly occurred, to be in poor taste. Many also expressed confusion as to what the $300,000 was for since the documentary seemed nearly finished based on the trailer.

On March 12th, Redditor /u/FordBeWithYou made a lengthy post to the subreddit /r/comicbooks^[7] encouraging people not to donate to the Kickstarter, citing various issues with the stated costs and the "reward tiers," which included tours of locations where Stan Lee was supposedly exploited. The post gathered over 1,800 upvotes and 120 comments in two days.

On March 13th, 2025, LinkedIn^[4] user Eric Gladstone made a post alleging that Bolerjack was not Stan Lee's assistant, but rather a "videographer hired by one of Stan's biggest abusers, Max Anderson, who is featured heavily in the documentary."

Also on March 13th, X^[5] user @LumpyTheCook wrote, "So some guy stealth recorded Stan Lee getting elder-abused for several years, told nobody about it, did nothing with it, and then waited several more years until setting up a Kickstarter to crowdfund the release of it. Am I reading that right." The post gathered over 10,000 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References