Stan Lee Becomes A Real Life Marvel Zombie In Posthumous AI Likeness Deal

BusinessHollywood & EntertainmentStan Lee Becomes A Real Life Marvel Zombie In Posthumous AI Likeness DealByRob Salkowitz,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Rob Salkowitz is an Eisner-nominated comics journalist and author.Follow AuthorMay 27, 2026, 02:40pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.HOLLYWOOD, CA - OCTOBER 20: Stan Lee attends the Premiere of Disney and Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange" on October 20, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)Getty ImagesIconic Marvel Comics writer/editor Stan Lee departed this world in 2018 after an impressive 95 year lifetime that spanned from the earliest beginnings of the American comic book industry in the 1940s to the era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But apparently 95 years was not enough for people who profited from his widely recognized face, shades, baggy sweaters and charming midcentury “New Yawk” accent. Today ElevenLabs, a prominent generative AI audio developer, announced a deal with Stan Lee Universe, which holds the rights to Lee’s voice and likeness, to add Lee to its marketplace of simulated celebrities licensable for commercial use in audio, video and comics-based projects.Lee joins a growing list of celebrities both dead and still living, including Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, Albert Einstein, Michael Caine and David Hasselhoff, who have been exhumed through the miracle of LLMs. Producers are betting big that audiences’ hunger for the familiarity of departed favorites will overcome qualms over taste and basic decency that this technology raises, and they may be right.In Lee’s case, it can be argued that his voice was central to the rise of Marvel, as his personality helped the upstart publisher differentiate from staid and stuffy competitors like DC, Archie and Dell at a time when a new generation of fans was looking...