For years, Stan Lee was a staple in the convention circuit, with the Marvel legend bringing joy to superhero fans all over the world. With this new documentary from Lee’s former assistant, you’ll never look at that time in fandom history the same.
Stan Lee: The Final Chapter features exclusive, never-before-seen footage from producer, editor, and filmmaker Jon Bolerjack, who worked as Lee’s assistant and documented his years working with him on camera. Filmed over four years, the documentary dives into the exploitation Lee faced from multiple members of his team, and the ensuing challenges the icon faced in the last years of his life.
Stan Lee: The Final Chapter was produced by Stan Lee's former assistant Jon Bolerjack. | Source: Source: Courtesy of Convrsly Productions
Jon Bolerjack filmed Stan Lee: The Final Chapter over the course of four years. | Source: Courtesy of Convrsly Productions
Stan Lee: The Final Chapter revisits the last few years of Stan Lee's life as he was carted to conventions around the world. | Source: Courtesy of Convrsly Productions
Stan Lee: The Final Chapter revisits the last few years of Stan Lee's life as he was carted to conventions around the world. | Source: Source: Courtesy of Convrsly Productions
The Pop Insider talked with Bolerjack ahead of the documentary’s release to discuss the process behind crafting the documentary and working with Lee.
“I had already worked in documentary before meeting Stan, and what ends up happening is you just sort of dump out tens of hours of footage on the table, and then you just have to start piecing it together, unlike a narrative where you have a script that you could just know this is the scene,” Bolerjack says. “It never feels like you’re close to being done because there’s always some other soundbite that comes up, and then you remember, and you get really invested. You have got to go dig through hundreds of hours for 10 seconds (of footage). This one was very detail-oriented and really relied on memory to go find things that you may or may not have.”
The documentary is debuting this week at Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC), with a free screening Thursday, July 23, from 8:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. in Room 6DE at the show. Bolerjack also discussed his choice to have the doc debut at the show.
“The name is the reason,” Bolerjack says. “It’s the Comic-Con of the world, and it’s the diehards who go there. It’s expensive. It’s hard to get tickets. They’re the guys entrenched in the comic universe. It’s probably the one time I’ll get 100% of people there who know who Stan was. Also, a lot of this is shot at Comic-Con. Some of it is shot at San Diego Comic-Con. So it’s a real full-circle moment to have filmed in all these Comic-Cons and now have the film playing at the same Comic-Con.”
Stan Lee: The Final Chapter will be available domestically on VOD starting next Tuesday, July 28, and fans can rent or own it on Apple, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango, and YouTube Movies & TV.
