Stan Lee: Purveyor of Wonder

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"I've got people calling me all the time with ideas, some of them good, some of them not," he says. Not long after opening his doors, Lee signed a deal with Playboy (PLA) to create an animated TV series called Hef's Superbunnies that is still in development. He also created a series of DVDs based on Ringo Starr, whose character the company describes as "an evil-biting, earth-saving (though reluctant) superhero with a great sense of rhythm." For the last two years his company has produced the reality show Who Wants to Be a Superhero? for the SyFy channel and a version for kids that's on the BBC. Lee is also digital, working with Disney on a video comic book called Time Jumper that is available through Apple's (AAPL) iTunes Store.

Teaming Up with Disney

Talking to Stan Lee, you get the idea that he's like a kid in a candy store—taking a bite of everything that looks good. He's making a Japanese comic book called Karakuridoji Ultimo (or simply Ultimo), a manga-style series that follows the exploits of an evil robot and a good robot unleashed to fight one another when war breaks out in West Tokyo. Lee helped come up with the story lines and the characters, including a scientist called Dr. Dunstan, who is drawn to look remarkably like Lee. He is working on a "green" superhero who fights crime while protecting the environment. There are also agents at the giant Creative Artists Agency looking for even more deals.

Lee's biggest opportunity is with Disney, where he suddenly finds himself in the midst of what looks like an animation Hall of Fame. Already the home to Mickey, Minnie, and others, Disney is collecting cartoon brands the way a kid collects old Spider-Man comics. In the last five years, Disney bought Pixar and Marvel, as well as a piece of POW! "Stan had incredible creative energy and continues to come up with great stories that can work across many of our platforms," said Bob Chapek, Disney's head of worldwide distribution at the time Disney announced its stake in POW!

Lee and Champion aren't saying exactly what the deal with Disney means, other than that they are hard at work on several projects for the fabled animation factory. Lee says he's already met with John Lasseter, the former Pixar head who now lords over Disney's animation activities. Is there a Stan Lee-Pixar film down the road? A new Marvel character that Lee might help Disney exploit? "We're thinking," says Lee.

Right now, Lee is consulting with writers and producers on three Disney films, including one called Tigress about a female crime-fighter with, what else, cat-like quickness. That character could just as easily describe Lee, a man who has projects popping up as often as bad guys in a superhero's path.

Grover covers the media and entertainment industry for Bloomberg Businessweek in Los Angeles.

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