Overview
- ElevenLabs announced the licensing deal with Stan Lee Universe on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, to add a recreated Stan Lee voice and likeness to its Iconic Marketplace and Eleven Reader app.
- The company says the voice model was trained on professional recordings and will narrate a monthly ‘Stan Lee Book of the Month Club,’ starting with Treasure Island in June.
- Stan Lee’s likeness is included in image and video templates that ElevenLabs limits to non-commercial personal use while commercial and personal uses require Stan Lee Universe approval.
- Within hours of the announcement fans and commentators criticized the project, citing concerns about posthumous consent and Lee’s contested final years, and reports say ElevenLabs removed the press release and restricted listing visibility.
- The deal follows a wider industry trend of estates licensing AI replicas and comes as ElevenLabs expands products and recently raised $500 million in a Series D, raising new questions about rights, ethics, and oversight.