- Stan Lee said he was "heartbroken" that he didn't copyright any Marvel characters himself.
- For decades, the creator wrote stories and characters that were solely owned by Marvel Comics.
In the last 40 years, Marvel Comics characters have become pop culture juggernauts with countless TV shows, movies, and video games based on heroes like the X-Men, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man.
Of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has also become a hugely profitable money-making machine in the hands of Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios and Disney. But none of that would be possible without the comic book writers and illustrators who created them in the first place.
One such writer is the iconic Stan Lee, who died in 2018 but left behind a huge body of work at Marvel Comics.
A new Disney+ documentary, simply titled "Stan Lee," looks at the characters he created and how he helped shape Marvel into the hugely successful company it is today.
In it, Lee opened up about regretting the fact that he never sought to copyright the many characters he came up with during his time working for Marvel Comics. After all, Spider-Man is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the costumed crusaders that he helped create.
"I always resented the fact that when I wrote these stories, I never thought, 'Gee, I ought to try and copyright something myself and own it.' It always belonged to the company," said Lee. "So, from a business point of view, that was a mistake. I was heartbroken. There wasn't much I could do about it."
Lee also opened up about how he was treated when Marvel was bought by a new owner, though he doesn't specify which one. The company was bought by New World Entertainment in 1986, before later being sold to MacAndrews & Forbes in 1989.
"By this time I had been at Marvel for many years," said Lee. "I had had a lifetime job, and I was damn well worth it. But the company was sold."
"One of the owners of the new company said, 'Stan, don't worry, you're going to be better than ever,'" Lee continued. "And he was gonna give everyone new contracts. So the new contract I was offered was, instead of a lifetime contract, a two-year contract, which made me very unhappy."
Lee was eventually given an honorary role within Marvel, one which reportedly paid him $1 million a year.
Lee noted: "Marvel finally settled things. They gave me a title, chairman emeritus, which was an honorary title. I was very happy about that."
"Stan Lee" is streaming on Disney+ now.