Director's Cut: Stan Lee

Do you feel like you’ve adjusted well to the shift in the zeitgeist and how stories are told to the public?Well, I hope we have adjusted well. The fact that Lucky Man has such high ratings —we’ve been led to think that we’re certainly doing that right. You know, a story is a story, whether it’s on the stage, on the screen, in a comic book novel — whatever it is, it’s either a story that people are interested in and want to read more about or it isn’t. It almost doesn’t matter what method of delivery you give this story, as long as it’s a story that people care about, with characters that people care about.

The trademark of someone in a story being given a responsibility is very much yours. What is it about Lucky Man — that in the most competitive time there has ever been for television, it has earned itself a second season? I think it has to do with what makes any story successful: the people who wrote the script and those who are directing and producing it; they’re making it so lifelike, so believable. They’remaking these characters so interesting that you want to see more about them, and they’re making this story that isn’t your average story, it’s very exaggerated in the sense of this instrument that gives good luck and bad luck. It’s almost a superhero theme, but they write it so believably and so beautifully and it just gets you. Even the city, even London becomes part of the cast it’s so beautifully photographed. If ever there was a show where I feel everything came together perfectly — the acting, the script, the photography, the editing — this is the show. I think we’re lucky to be connected with that great producing outfit, and to have a great star like James Nesbitt playing the lead role.

The expectation is that Lucky Man will be as popular as it was in the first season. When you think about these things over the long term, do you feel like you go by what public opinion is telling you at the time, or do you — when you initially conceive of the character and the T.V. show — and [production company] POW! Entertainment havean idea of where it is going to end up? I don’t think you ever know about the second season, you’re too busy hoping that the first season will do well. Of course, in the back of your mind you have some feeling about what the second season will be, so you’re not cut short if it does do well. You’reconcentrating on that initial showing and you’ve got your fingers crossed and your toes crossed always, hoping the public will respond. It’s no different to when you publish a book and put it on sale and hope it will be a bestseller; anything that you bring forth to the public you’ve always got your fingers crossed and you’re just hoping that people will be fascinated by it as much as you are.

When I watched the show it was the object that got me, that idea of a bracelet, something so simple. It made me think of Lord of the Rings, because a ring is so simple and yet so powerful when a narrative and a mystery are built around it. Do you think that is the golden egg behind this show? Absolutely, these are normal people and they’re people you can identify with, but the story has that one element of fantasy ––it’s the bracelet. To me that’s the best type of fantasy story, when everything else is realistic but there’s one element that brings it out and makes it different to all other stories; it’s that one element you’re fascinated by, and how it affects your characters —we hope you’re also fascinated by.

At Stan Lee’s Comic-Con, it is not restricted to your creations, it’s open to all. What do you think that says about the fantasy world and the people that create it? It’s just the fact that people today are so interested in stories that have a fantasy angle, and it doesn’t matter who writes the story, who draws it, or who acts it, as long as it’s well done. I am a fan of many other writers and actors who appear in stories that have one element that’s bigger than life. I think that’s the secret, to have one element that has a fantasy angle to it, but to do the story so well and so realistically that the one element is accepted by the viewer or reader and tends to make the story that much more unusual and fascinating.

Originally published in issue 50 of The Rake. Subscribe here.