Stan Lee’s AI voice and likeness have been licensed for a new digital appearance, bringing the Marvel Comics creator to the AI market, a reader app, visual templates and musical instruments. The deal places Lee’s voice and image within ElevenLabs’ Iconic Marketplace through an agreement with Stan Lee Universe, a joint venture between Genius Brands International and POW! entertainment Lee died in 2018 at the age of 95, but his voice will narrate books and appear in approved AI projects.
Stan Lee AI voice deal expands digital license
ElevenLabs announced the deal on Wednesday, Variety reports. The company said Lee’s voice and likeness will be integrated into its Iconic Marketplace, which offers licensed celebrity voices and images for commercial use.“Do you know what they ever tell you about legends?” An AI-generated version of Lee says in a company video. “They live off the page.”Users can also create Lee-inspired images and videos using comic book panel templates through the platform’s visual generator. Such creations are limited to non-commercial use. His voice can narrate books through the Eleven Reader app. ElevenLabs said it trained the voice model on Lee’s professional recordings.“Stan always believed in meeting his fans where they were: in the pages of a comic book, at a convention or in a quick on-screen cameo,” said Chaz Rainey, attorney and Stan Lee Universe board member. “This partnership is a way to continue that. Fans have always told us that when they read his comics, they hear the words in Stan’s voice, and now, thanks to ElevenLabs, we can make that a reality.”
Stan Lee Book Club adds AI narration
The company will also launch a “Stan Lee Book Club of the Month” through Eleven Reader. The series begins in June with Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’. Each month there will be a new public domain book.Lee’s repeated voiceover also says, “With great power comes great responsibility” and “Excelsior!” in the videoThe implementation includes two music filters, “Superhero Cinematic Swells” and “Retro Hero Fanfare”. Other names on the platform include Michael Caine, Judy Garland, Burt Reynolds, David Hasselhoff and Albert Einstein. Val Kilmer’s estate also allowed the film ‘As Deep as the Grave’ to use his image and voice after his death in 2025.Revelations’ Lori McCreary said tech companies and Hollywood “must respect consent, protect name, image and likeness rights and preserve the value of human creativity.”The company raised USD 500 million this year at a valuation of USD 11 million.
