Stan Lee Brought Back as AI Hologram for LA Comic-Con 2025 Experience Offering Selfies and Conversations; Critics Call It Exploitation Beyond the Grave
Visitors can take selfies and even ask questions, but many are asking if this high-tech resurrection is honoring Stan Lee or cashing in on his memory.
Summary
- LA Comic-Con will debut an AI-powered hologram of Stan Lee, offering interactive Q&As and photo ops at the Stan Lee Experience.
- Tickets cost $20, or $15 in advance, plus a $3.50 service fee, with technology provided by Proto Inc. and licensing from Stan Lee Universe.
- The project sparks debate over posthumous representation, as Lee’s likeness, licensed to Disney and others, continues to be used in new commercial ventures.
Visitors to this year’s Los Angeles Comic-Con will encounter a version of Stan Lee unlike any seen before.
The late Marvel Comics figurehead will appear at the convention not in archival footage or wax, but as a hologram driven by artificial intelligence.
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The “Stan Lee Experience,” announced by organizers, promises a 1,500-square-foot interactive installation “celebrating the legacy of the legend who started it all.”
Tickets are priced at $20, or $15 if purchased in advance, plus a $3.50 service fee.
Attendees will be able to take part in a “live interactive Q&A” with the projection, including a 10-to-15-minute group session and a three-to-four-minute individual conversation.
They may also pose for photos alongside the hologram.
A Digital Return
The project is being produced by Stan Lee Universe, the licensing branch of Kartoon Studios. It is led by Bob Sabouni, formerly an executive vice president at Marvel Studios.
The technology itself comes from Proto Inc., a company specializing in “holographic communications platforms.” The same technology has been used in advertising displays, including a promotional campaign for The Conjuring.
Sabouni told The Hollywood Reporter that the experience would remain true to Lee’s personality and values.
“We’ll never put words in his mouth that aren’t in line with things he spoke about in his lifetime,” he said. “Fortunately, with decades of footage capturing his thoughts on so many subjects, we can build a voice that stays true, not always word for word, but always faithful in spirit, context, and intent.”
Licensing the Legacy
Stan Lee, who died in November 2018, left behind not only a cultural impact but also a complex set of rights to his likeness.
In 2022, Stan Lee Universe began licensing those rights to various companies, including Madame Tussauds, Topps, and Disney.
The Disney agreement was particularly expansive, granting Marvel exclusive use of Lee’s archival images and recordings.
“It really ensures that Stan, through digital technology and archival footage and other forms, will live in the most important venue, the Marvel movies, and Disney theme parks,” Andy Heyward, chairman and chief executive of Kartoon Studios, said at the time. “It’s a broad deal.”
When asked if that arrangement could one day lead to a digital recreation of Lee in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Heyward said that audiences would likely accept it if handled carefully.
“The audience revered Stan, and if it’s done with taste and class, and respectful of who he was, [uses of his likeness] will be welcomed,” he said.
A Debate Over Taste
The decision to recreate Lee in this manner follows years of scrutiny over the handling of his legacy.
In the years before his death, Lee’s final chapter was clouded by public reports of elder abuse and mismanagement.
Now, with his likeness controlled by a licensing entity, the introduction of an interactive AI-driven version raises questions not only about technology but also about the limits of posthumous representation.
For some, the development might echo the digital resurrection of other performers, such as Peter Cushing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or hologram tours of artists like Whitney Houston.
For others, the uncanny quality of AI-powered avatars may feel less like a tribute than a commercial experiment.
LA Comic-Con is scheduled to take place on September 26 and 28. Organizers appear confident that the “Stan Lee Experience” will resonate with fans.
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