ElevenLabs has signed a deal with Stan Lee Universe to license Stan Lee’s voice and likeness for use across apps and licensing platforms, bringing the late comic icon into ElevenReader, a monthly Stan Lee Book Club, and even non-commercial image generation. Th
Stan Lee has been gone for years, but now his voice and image are back in circulation—this time manufactured by AI.
ElevenLabs. the voice-cloning company. has signed a deal with Stan Lee Universe that will let it use Stan Lee’s voice and likeness in its apps and in licensing platforms. The arrangement places Lee on ElevenLabs’ Iconic Marketplace, where companies can license celebrity voices and IP for commercial use. The late comic creator joins a roster that also includes Judy Garland, Michael Caine, John Wayne, and David Hasselhoff.
The partnership reaches beyond licensing. ElevenLabs is also bringing Lee into the ElevenReader app, launched in 2024. The app lets people upload text files and have them read aloud using an AI-generated narrator. ElevenLabs says it offers 10 free hours of text to audio each month. and an unlimited paid subscription that currently costs $8.25 per month.
Starting from there. ElevenLabs is rolling out the Stan Lee Book Club of the Month within ElevenReader. which the company describes as “a monthly celebration of the literature Stan loved.” For June. the selection is Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. ElevenLabs says it will add one public domain work featured in the series to the app each month for the next 12 months.
There’s also a visual side to this revival. Lee’s likeness can now be used in ElevenCreative. ElevenLabs’ AI image generator. where users can have him appear in comic-inspired visual templates for non-commercial use. The company’s setup makes the premise clear: even if this use is framed as non-commercial. the same capability could potentially support far wider cameos later—superhero-themed or otherwise.
Chaz Rainey of Stan Lee Universe framed the partnership as an attempt to meet fans where they already engage with Lee’s work. “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. ” Rainey said. “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. His voice. his image. his love of storytelling…ElevenLabs gives us a way to keep that alive and in fans’ hands in a way that’s true to who he was.”.
Even ElevenLabs’ music tool is getting into the act. The company is celebrating the new partnership by adding several Stan Lee-inspired audio filters to its AI music generator. Eleven Music. Two options—“Superhero Swells” and “Retro Hero Fanfare”—are available to all ElevenLabs users without approval.
Eleven Music launched as a royalty-free service last year. It can generate fake songs based on prompts. ElevenLabs says its model was initially trained using data it licensed from music labels through Merlin Network and Kobalt Music Group. and CEO Mati Staniszewski previously said it hoped to eventually bring major labels on board.
Stan Lee ElevenLabs Stan Lee Universe AI voice cloning AI likeness ElevenReader ElevenCreative Eleven Music celebrity voice licensing Iconic Marketplace
So they’re making Stan Lee talk again… great.
Not gonna lie this is kinda cool but also creepy. Like how is it “non-commercial” if it’s still using his likeness for templates and apps? I feel like that loophole is gonna bite someone.
Wait I thought Stan Lee’s estate would’ve shut this down? Also “book club” read aloud sounds like they’re just replacing real narrators with AI. $8.25 is cheap though so I can see people paying just to try it out. Kinda seems wrong but I’m not even sure what the deal fully is.
This is exactly why I hate AI, they say it’s public domain and non-commercial but then it’s still on a marketplace for companies to license voices. Next they’re gonna have it doing all the voice acting for movies too. Also ElevenReader reading your text files like that… isn’t that basically the same thing as deepfakes? Smh.