Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, Genius Brands strike joint deal
Lee is created comics like Spider-Man and Black Panther
Genius Brands International has reached a joint venture deal with Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment to acquire the name and post-Marvel IP, according to a statement.
Specific terms of the deal were not included in the companies’ announcements, the agreement with POW! and Genius Brands, a global brand management company, will include more than 100 original Stan Lee creations to create a "Stan Lee Universe.”
“It’s almost impossible to conceive that one mind created all this wealth. The spinoffs alone defy the imagination,” Andy Heyward, Genius Brands chairman and chief executive officer, said in the statement. “From animated television, to toys, apparel, video games, and every conceivable licensed product imaginable, Stan Lee characters populate the screens and retail shelves worldwide. There is no creator who has influenced pop culture and created more successful entertainment.”
ENNIO MORRICONE, OSCAR-WINNING MOVIE COMPOSER, DEAD AT 91
Lee, the renowned writer, editor and publisher of Marvel Comics, is best known for iconic superhero comic characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men and Black Panther.
Lee, who died in 2018, created POW! in 2001 to manage his creator rights and licenses across multiple mediums, like TV and video games. Marvel Comics was sold to the Walt Disney Company for $4.4 billion in 2009.
Stan Lee IP collection will comprise all characters and IP created by Lee outside of the Walt Disney-owned Marvel Entertainment, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Some of those include Stan Lee’s Tomorrow Men, Stringbean, Black Fury and Virus.
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The Stan Lee Universe joint venture will hold global rights to the name, physical likeness, and signature, TV, online, digital, publishing, comic book, merchandising and licensing rights, as well as the live-action and animated motion picture rights to Stan Lee and his IP creations.
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Genius Brands will become the managing and controlling partner of the venture.