Jack Kirby’s Family Challenges Disney+’s Stan Lee Documentary

To celebrate the legacy Stan Lee created for the Marvel Universe, Disney+ recently released a documentary named after the famous artist, exploring the life of whom many people believe to be the only person responsible for the success of some of the world’s most beloved characters. Ever since Spider-Man became incredibly popular in 2002 with the release of the film starring Tobey Maguire, audiences knew who the man in the glasses making a cameo was.

However, that isn’t the whole story, as Marvel’s success over the decades can’t be credited to a single individual. Behind characters like Ant-Man or the Fantastic Four, Jack Kirby‘s talent couldn’t be denied. Through her social media accounts, Jillian Kirby, the granddaughter of the legendary artist, released a statement by her father Neal Kirby talking about the way his father’s image is treated in the documentary.

Kirby compares his father’s work to many other achievements in art that went wrongfully credited, showing his discomfort with Disney+’s latest feature. After all, the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn’t be as rich as it is when it comes to characters and visual inspiration without the many hours Jack Kirby dedicated to the company for decades. Her statement reads:

“[I] understand that, as a “documentary about Stan Lee.” most of the narrative is in his voice, literally and figuratively. It’s not any big secret that there has always been controversy over the parts that were played in the creation and success of Marvel’s characters. Stan Lee had the fortunate circumstance to have access to the corporate megaphone and media, and he used these to create his own mythos as to the creation of the Marvel character pantheon. He made himself the voice of Marvel. So, for several decades he was the “only” man standing, and blessed with a long life, the last man standing (my father died in 1994). It should also be noted and is generally accepted that Stan Lee had a limited knowledge of history, mythology, or science.On the other hand, my father’s knowledge of these subjects, to which I and many others can personally attest, was extensive. Einstein summed it up better; “More the knowledge, lesser the ego. Lesser the knowledge, more the ego.”If you were to look at a list and timeline of Marvel’s characters from 1960 through 1966, the period in which the vast majority of Marvel’s major characters were created during Lee’s tenure, you will see Lee’s name as a co-creator on every character, with the exception of the Silver Surfer, solely created by my father. Are we to assume Lee had a hand in creating every Marvel character?”

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The statement went on to talk about the continued issue of credit in the world of comic books, with Kirby making reference to the better known conflict between Lee and Steve Ditko:

“Are we to assume that it was never the other co-creator that walked into Lee’s office and said,“Stan, I have a great idea for a character!” According to Lee, it was always his idea. Lee spends a fair amount of time talking about how and why he created the Fantastic Four, with only one fleeting reference to my father. Indeed, most comics historians recognize that my father based the Fantastic Four on a 1957 comic he created for DC, “Challengers of the Unknown,” even naming Ben Grimm (The Thing) after his father Benjamin, and Sue Storm after my older sister Susan.Though the conflict between Lee and my father concerning creator credit gets glanced over with little mention, there is more attention paid to the strife between Lee and Steve Ditko, with Lee’s voice proclaiming, “it was my idea, therefore I created the character,”Ditko’s rebuttal being that his art and storyline is what brought life to Spiderman. In 1501, the Opera del Duomo commissioned a 26-year-old Michelangelo to sculpt a statue of David for the Cathedral of Florence – their idea, their money. The statue is called Michelangelo’s David – his genius, his vision, his creativity.”

The finished by saying:

“Lee had over 35 years of uncontested publicity, much, naturally, with the backing and blessing of Marvel as he boosted the Marvel brand as a side effect of boosting himself. The decades of Lee’s self-promotion culminated with his cameo appearances in over 35 Marvel films starting with “X-Men” in 2000, thus cementing his status as the creator of all things Marvel to an otherwise unknowing movie audience of millions, unfamiliar with the true history of Marvel comics. My father’s first screen credit didn’t appear until the closing crawl at the end of the film adaptation of Iron Man in 2008, after Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Larry Lieber. The battle for creator’s rights has been around since the first inscribed Babylonian tablet. It’s way past time to at least get this one chapter of literary/art history right. ’Nuff said.”

What’s Next for Jack Kirby’s Legacy?

Given how Kirby’s legacy is still being used by Disney to expand their long-running franchise, Kirby’s work will be explored on the big screen over the next couple of years. A new iteration of Fantastic Four is coming to theatres in 2025, and while the new faces of the team haven’t been cast yet, the visual iconography established by Kirby so many years ago will likely be used when Marvel’s first family makes its way to the MCU. Added to that, Paul Rudd‘s version of Ant-Man might not be done with the franchise yet, reminding audiences how important the artist’s legacy has been for the company.

You can read the full statement concerning the Stan Lee documentary below: