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An AI company announced this week that it is digitally resurrecting famed Marvel creator Stan Lee and charging users for access to his recreated voice and likeness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n ElevenLabs revealed Wednesday that the late comic book writer\u2019s AI-generated voice and image will be added to its growing collection of celebrity recreations that can be licensed for commercial use.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou know what they never tell you about legends?\u201d the AI-generated version of Lee says in a promotional video released by the company. \u201cThey outlive the page. A good story doesn’t belong to one moment. It grows. It changes. It gets passed down from generation to generation, constantly evolving.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEvery great story starts with a hero. And just because a person has a superpower doesn’t mean they don’t have the same problems that you have,\u201d the promo continues. \u201cSo for the creators, the ones dreaming, building, chasing that one great idea, as long as there are people who believe in it, who carry it forward, it lives on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Notably, comments were disabled on the YouTube upload, though critics found their way to social media to express their objections.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStop, let the man rest in peace. Lunatics always create problems,\u201d one X user <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don’t even dislike AI like most people but using it to revive a dead person is disgusting,\u201d another <\/span>agreed<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThink about it. You can now rent a dead man’s voice and likeness for a corporate presentation. We are officially living in the science fiction stories we grew up reading,\u201d echoed a third.<\/span><\/p>\n Mixed among the negative comments were a few supporters. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStan Lee’s voice living on through AI is actually kind of beautiful,\u201d one person <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe man spent his whole life making stories feel alive, and now that energy gets to keep reaching people. Excelsior never really had an expiration date!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to ElevenLabs, users will be able to generate comic-book-style images featuring Lee\u2019s likeness, recreate his voice for non-commercial use, and use the AI-generated voice to narrate books through the company’s app.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStan 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,\u201d lawyer and board member for Stan Lee Universe Chaz Rainey said in a statement, per <\/span>Variety<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThis partnership is a way of continuing that. Fans have always told us that when they read his comics, they hear the words in Stan\u2019s voice, and now, thanks to ElevenLabs, we can make that a reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Lee, who died in 2018, is the latest celebrity to receive an AI-generated digital replica after death.<\/span><\/p>\n An AI-generated version of actor Val Kilmer is set to appear in the upcoming film \u201cAs Deep as the Grave\u201d following his death from throat cancer last year. Other deceased celebrities, including <\/span>James Dean<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Suzanne Somers,<\/span><\/a> have also been recreated using AI technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n