Stan Lee’s legacy to grow once more as the Stan Lee Universe is on the horizon

Genius Brands International and Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment are joining forces to build the Stan Lee Universe.

If you were to ask anyone “who is the greatest influence in comics or comic-related entertainment?” you may get some answers like Kevin Feige for what he’s done with the building of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Brian Michael Bendis for his storied runs on both Marvel and DC comic book titles, or Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for bringing the iconic Superman into the world.  However, I’d be willing to bet my bottom dollar the most common answer you would get is Stan Lee.

Long after Lee left Marvel, he helped get POW! (Purveyors of Wonder) Entertainment off the ground. From its inception in 2001 until his death in 2018, Lee created more than 100 additional characters and/or series. Today, as reported by Deadline Genius Brands International and Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment have inked a deal to create Stan Lee Universe – “a joint venture that will assume worldwide rights across media to Lee’s post-Marvel IP.”

The Stan Lee Universe is born

This, needless to say, is a massive grab.  While the deal does not include any of the intellectual property Lee created while at Marvel, the possibilities of what Genius Brands can now do may be endless. A very excited Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO of Genius Brands, noted in a press release:

"“This is the Holy Grail. Stan Lee Universe is a once in a lifetime asset drawn from over 100 original, heretofore unexploited properties, created by the most successful creator of intellectual property of our time.”"

Genius Brands International will not need to compete for an outlet to distribute their new content as Globe Newswire reported, they launched their own Kartoon Channel in June which is available in over 100 million US Television households and on more than 200 million mobile devices for free!

Where will Genius Brands start? As Heward continued in his announcement:

"“…the greatest hits from the mind of Stan Lee have yet to be told. As big as Spider-Man, Black Panther, X Men, and the Avengers are today, tomorrow it will be Stan Lee’s TOMORROW MEN, his STRINGBEAN, his BLACK FURY, and VIRUS.”"

While I’m guessing we won’t see a revamp of titles like Stripperella or another season of Who Wants to be a Superhero see the screen, Genius Brands International clearly has the intention of vaulting themselves into position to contend with Marvel and DC for superhero content on the big screen.

Are you looking forward to experiencing the Stan Lee Universe? Let us know in the comments below!