AI-Powered Stan Lee Hologram Debuts at LA Comic Con (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0179575950
- News link: https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/25/09/29/041251/ai-powered-stan-lee-hologram-debuts-at-la-comic-con
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/09/why-la-comic-con-thought-making-an-ai-powered-stan-lee-hologram-was-a-good-idea/
> Late last week, The Hollywood Reporter [2]ran a story about an "AI Stan Lee hologram" that would be appearing at the [3]LA Comic Con this weekend.
[4]Watch it in action here .] Nearly seven years after the famous Marvel Comics creator's [5]death at the age of 95 , fans will be able to pay $15 to $20 this weekend to chat with a life-sized, AI-powered avatar of Lee in an enclosed booth at the show. The instant response from many fans and media outlets to the idea was not kind, to say the least. A writer for TheGamer [6]called the very idea "demonic " and said we need to "kill it with fire before it's too late...."
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> But Chris DeMoulin, the CEO of the parent company behind LA Comic Con, urged critics to come see the AI-powered hologram for themselves before rushing to judgment. "We're not afraid of people seeing it and we're not afraid of criticism," he told Ars. "I'm just a fan of informed criticism, and I think most of what's been out there so far has not really been informed...." [DeMoulin said he saw] "the leaps and bounds that they were making in improving the technology, improving the interactivity." Now, he said, it's possible to create an AI-powered version that ingests "all of the actual comments that people made during their life" to craft an interactive hologram that "is not literally quoting the person, but everything it was saying was based on things that person actually said...." [Hyperreal CEO and Chief Architect Remington Scott] said Hyperreal "can't share specific technical details" of the models or training techniques they use to power these recreations. But Scott added that this training project is "particularly meaningful, [because] Stan Lee had actually begun digitizing himself while he was alive, with the vision of creating a digital double so his fans could interact with him on a larger scale...."
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> Still, DeMoulin said he understands why the idea of using even a stylized version of Lee's likeness in this manner could rub some fans the wrong way. "When a new technology comes out, it just feels wrong to them, and I respect the fact that this feels wrong to people," he said. "I totally agree that something like this-not just for Stan but for anyone, any celebrity alive or dead-could be put into this technology and used in a way that would be exploitative and unfortunate." That's why DeMoulin said he and the others behind the AI-powered Lee feel a responsibility "to make sure that if we were going to do this, we never got anywhere close to that."
The "premium, authenticated digital identities" created by Hyperreal's system are "not replacing artists," says Hyperreal CEO/Chief Architect Remington Scott, but "creating respectful digital extensions that honor their legacy."
Still, DeMoulin says in the article that "I suppose if we do it and thousands of fans interact with [it] and they don't like it, we'll stop doing it."
[1] https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/09/why-la-comic-con-thought-making-an-ai-powered-stan-lee-hologram-was-a-good-idea/
[2] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/stan-lee-ai-hologram-l-a-comic-con-1236375354/
[3] https://www.comicconla.com/
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7VIDy8rco0&t=36s
[5] https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/11/legendary-marvel-comics-creator-stan-lee-has-died/
[6] https://www.thegamer.com/stan-lee-la-comic-con-hologram-ai-evil/
Creepy (Score:2)
But cool at the same time. If Stan wanted this then by all means give it a try. I can see how this tech could easily be abused though.
Re:Creepy (Score:4, Funny)
Shouldn't there heads be in a jar when they do this?
At Least He Doesn't Suffer for It Anymore (Score:2)
From what I heard, Lee was paraded out on the con circuit for too long in his old age.
"Not replacing artists"... (Score:2)
> The "premium, authenticated digital identities" created by Hyperreal's system are "not replacing artists," says Hyperreal CEO/Chief Architect Remington Scott
Yeah, they're allowing the families of dead celebrities to wring a few more dollars out of their corpses...
And meanwhile... (Score:2)
... comic writers have been wringing dollars out of the same old storylines and cheesy "heroes" since the 1940s.
Re: (Score:2)
Why not? I'd be happy if my kids could "wring a few more dollars out of my corpse". If you don't want your kids or other family to get anything from you after you pass on, just write a will to ensure all those "wrung dollars" go to the cause of your choice (could be a charity, or could be Vladimir Putin if that is who you choose, or a trust you setup to send your ashes as far into the universe as the money from your corpse will pay for). Either way, you get to choose. Heck, if you're really smart and in dem
Asking critics to come and see it before judging (Score:2)
I find it hilarious that Remington Scott is asking people to spend $15 to $20 to see the hologram before he considers any criticism of the idea to be valid. Of course, from his point of view, that is a great idea.
Re: (Score:2)
They don't have to pay. They can wait and base their criticism on what people who did pay say. No different than any other product. You can criticize the latest iPhone without ever having put your hand on an iPhone, but perhaps your criticism would be worth a lot more to potential customers if you actually own one, or at least have used one for some time. You can also criticize all phones as a category too, but even then, your criticism would be more credible if you ever owned one, rather than repeating wha
\o/ (Score:1)
> "We're not afraid of people seeing it and we're not afraid of criticism," he told Ars. "I'm just a fan of informed criticism
=== gotta pay before you criticise.
Logic fail dude.
How about you pay people $40 plus entry, food, travel and opportunity-cost-fee to try the abomination and give a review?
Maybe you should have dug Stan's corpse up and animated it with robotic-powered AI, that would have been tasteful and has the AI buzzword!
Sign in to confirm you're not a BOT (Score:2)
“Late last week, The Hollywood Reporter [1]ran a story [hollywoodreporter.com] about an "AI Stan Lee hologram" that would be appearing at the [2]LA Comic Con [comicconla.com] this weekend. [ [3]Watch it in action here. [youtube.com]]”
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[1] https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/stan-lee-ai-hologram-l-a-comic-con-1236375354/
[2] https://www.comicconla.com/
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7VIDy8rco0&t=36s
The AIvengers! (Score:2)
That's all I had to say.