Stan Lee’s daughter has publicly criticised Marvel and Disney over the recent split that will see Spider-Man drop out of future Marvel movies.
Joan Celia Lee sided with Sony and other studios, telling TMZ that Marvel and Disney (to which Marvel Entertainment belongs) need to be “checked and balanced” in order to preserve her father’s legacy.
It was reported by Deadline earlier this week that Disney and Sony, the latter of which own the film rights to Spider-Man, failed to reach an agreement over the financing of future films.
This would mean that the superhero (currently portrayed by Tom Holland) won’t be able to appear in future Marvel films – just as Spider-Man had taken on a central role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as it moved past its Avengers era.
“Whether it’s Sony or someone else’s, the continued evolution of Stan’s characters and his legacy deserves multiple points of view,” Ms Lee told TMZ.
She claimed that Disney and Marvel have “commoditised [her] father’s work and never shown him or his legacy any respect or decency”.
“In the end, no one could have treated my father worse than Marvel and Disney’s executives,” she added.
Stan Lee, who died in November last year, co-created Spider-Man during his historic career at Marvel Comics.
He co-created many of the studio’s best-known characters, including Iron Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four – and Marvel fans knew to look out for his cameos in each of the MCU films.
The Independent has contacted Disney and Marvel for comment.
