Legendary comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer Stan Lee passed away in 2018 at the age of 95 – but now he’s set to return in AI form. Variety reports that AI company ElevenLabs has made a deal with Stan Lee Universe (a joint venture between Genius Brands International and POW! Entertainment) that will allow the company to use Lee’s voice and likeness.
What is the Stan Lee AI deal?
Under the agreement, ElevenLabs will add an officially licensed AI recreation of Stan Lee to its “Iconic Marketplace,” a collection of celebrity personality voices and likenesses that companies can license for commercial use. The company is already promoting the initiative with an AI-generated narration modeled after Lee’s unmistakable voice, which can be heard on the Vimeo video embedded at the top of this article.
ElevenLabs is adding two “comic book-esque music filters” inspired by Lee to its AI music generator, ElevenCreative Music. Those filters are called “Superhero Cinematic Swells” and “Retro Hero Fanfare.”
They’re also launching a new series called “Stan Lee Book Club of the Month” on Eleven Reader that will use Lee’s voice to narrate a different book every month. First up is Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. They plan to use his voice to narrate a different public domain title every month “to commemorate Lee’s love for books.”
Need more AI Lee? Users will be able to generate his likeness within templates inspired by comic book panels through ElevenLabs’ visual generator (these images and videos are restricted to non-commercial use) and use his voice to narrate any book through its Eleven Reader app, not just the monthly public domain books. The voice “was trained on professional recordings of Lee.”
This isn’t the first time Lee has been resurrected with AI, as an AI hologram of the man also spoke with fans at L.A. Comic-Con last year.
What has been said about this deal?
Chaz Rainey, a lawyer and board member for Stan Lee Universe, provided the following statement: “Stan always believed in meeting his fans where they were: in the pages of a comic, at a convention, or in a quick on-screen cameo. This partnership is a way of continuing that. Fans have always told us that when they read his comics, they hear the words in Stan’s voice, and now, thanks to ElevenLabs, we can make that a reality.“
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