Ahead of our on-site coverage of San Diego Comic-Con, I spoke with filmmaker Jon Bolerjack about his documentary Stan Lee: The Final Chapter which will be shown at the convention.
When: Thursday, July 23, 2026
Where: Comic-Con International: San Diego, Room: 6DE
How did you get interested in visual effects and what was your big break?
I was actually hired initially at a company to manage data, which is incredibly detail oriented but also boring. I had been a freelance artist before film school and had always wanted to lean more in that direction and I realized the company I was working at was outsourcing all of its graphics and visual effects needs. I pitched the owner of the company an idea to take that in-house and after the presentation the owner just said “okay sounds good…you run it” and then like that I was building a graphics department which eventually had 7 full time artists and was working on films like Ready Player One, Deadpool 2, John Wick and more.
What was the inspiration behind the Documentary?
Early on during filming, there wasn’t much happening that was particularly interesting. At that point I decided that eventually a story would present itself. I had no idea the story would unfold in front of me. The story really told itself and I just had to listen and make sure that it was told as honestly and fairly as possible.
What were the greatest challenges you faced?
The simplest answer to that is money. Making a film is expensive, in a highly specialized field like filmaking, each step involves very talented and specialized individuals that all cost significant monies to utilize. I was lucky that the content and access that I had was powerful and engaging, I had willing participation from the interview subjects, and I had the complete story. The budget to piece it all together was the hard part. I wanted to make this film no matter the costs or how long it would take because the truth needed to be out.
What did you learn about Stan Lee and Marvel that you did not know prior?
My first job at 13 was working at a comic book store. I kept that job until I was 25, so its been in my DNA pretty much my whole life. I realized that everything I “knew” about Stan was surface level but once I’d spent time with him, I learned that at the end of the day he was a regular person. He had his bravado for the crowd of course, but I was very surprised by his humble attitude. I never saw him act like a primadonna, he never threw his name out to get what he wanted, he was pretty normal behind the scenes.
How is the use of footage for a documentary sorted out to avoid issues and what kind of permissions are needed when making a film documentary?
Also:
Did you run into resistance from entities or individuals trying to stop you from making the project?
I am the owner and copyright holder of everything I filmed. That didn’t stop Max Anderson (featured in the documentary) from trying assert that he was the proper owner of the material. However, after a long 6-year lawsuit, in which zero supportive evidence was submitted, Anderson lost that case and I was free to complete the film.
How long did the project take?
From filming to completion, the project took 10 years. We started with hundred of hours of audio and video recordings and had to dig through all of it to give the most complete account of events that had occurred during that. On a positive note, the extended time frame gave us a real opportunity to pour over the footage and find small moments that we could really highlight and help tell the overall story.
What do you have upcoming and how do you select your projects?
Right now, I’m really excited to have the project wrapping up and haven’t made any future plans on projects. This has been just a large part of my life for the last decade that the idea of starting over has become a little daunting. I am always open to do something else but I think next time around, I’d need the project to be funded by someone else before starting.
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