People are ‘disgusted’ after a tech company revealed its ‘evil’ plans for the late Stan Lee

The godfather of Marvel, Stan Lee, passed away in 2018, but now, nearly a decade after his death, tech company ElevenLabs is planning on bringing him back.

On Wednesday, AI audio company ElevenLabs signed a deal with Stan Lee Universe, a joint venture between Genius Brands International and POW! Entertainment. His voice and likeness are set to be added to the ElevenLabs Iconic Marketplace, a collection of celebrity personality voices and likenesses that companies can license for commercial use.

“You know what they never tell you about legends?” an AI-generated version of Stan Lee said in a promotional video. “They outlive the page.”

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As of this week, people can also generate the icon’s likeness within templates inspired by comic book panels. People can even use his voice to narrate books on the Eleven Reader app.

As you can probably imagine, the announcement has not gone down well, with people calling it “disgusting”, “evil”, and “morally bankrupt.”

ElevenLabs has now turned its comments off, but one person wrote on Twitter: “Evil. I beg people not to consume any of this. They milked this man for every cent they could. When he was alive, it was actually elder abuse. Even now, they won’t let him rest.”

“Jesus Christ, the future is bleak,” another said, as someone else added, “Even in death, they still get you to work.”

Repulsive.
Shame to have your legacy turned into a punchline. https://t.co/Lnro8eaqMi

— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) May 27, 2026

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Sadly, this is not the first time AI has exploited Stan Lee

This story is foul enough on its own, but unfortunately, it’s not even the first time Stan Lee’s likeness has been used after his death.

Last September, in a moment one person called “pretty ghoulish”, L.A. Comic Con had an AI-generated hologram of Stan Lee. Of course, they were charging between $15 and $20 for pictures and conversations with the fabrication.

“We’ll never put words in his mouth that aren’t in line with things he spoke about in his lifetime,” Bob Sabouni, who was in charge of the project, 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.”

imagine você morre e sua memória é abusada pra fazer coisas que você NUNCA consentiu e talvez nunca iria consentir em vida

cada dia que passa esse mundo se assemelha mais a um inferno https://t.co/uaeQIWvj4b

— thi (@thiagochareti) May 27, 2026

Of course, people had a lot to say at the time, with one person arguing on Reddit: “I wonder at what point do we realize we’re living in a dystopian black mirror episode.”

“Immoral, anti-ethical, and if it isn’t a crime, it should be,” someone else said, as another added, “I can not imagine a worse feeling, personally speaking, then have a one-sided conversation with the reanimated corpse of an artist I admire (his elderly corpse, at a time when he was being exploited and abused).”

ElevenLabs has been approached for comment.

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Featured image credit: Jim Ruymen/UPI/Shutterstock